Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.16 EPS

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.16, Zacks reports. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%.

Universal Insurance Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE UVE traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.55. 222,302 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 126,420. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $581.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 0.91. Universal Insurance has a 52 week low of $16.50 and a 52 week high of $23.39.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Insurance

In other news, Director Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.63, for a total value of $515,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 383,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,905,993.64. The trade was a 6.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $1,025,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 985,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,208,913.20. This trade represents a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated insurance holding company in the United States. It develops, markets, and underwrites insurance products for personal residential insurance, such as homeowners, renters/tenants, condo unit owners, and dwelling/fire; and offers allied lines, coverage for other structures, and personal property, liability, and personal articles coverages.