Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $47.68 and last traded at $47.4710, with a volume of 11,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UVE. Zacks Research lowered shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $419.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.62 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 37.67%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $879,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,084,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,702,687.10. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Universal Insurance

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth about $111,007,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Universal Insurance in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,849,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Universal Insurance in the second quarter valued at approximately $24,144,769. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,530,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,104,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company focused primarily on personal residential property and casualty insurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

Universal’s products have historically included homeowners, condominium, renters and dwelling-fire insurance, along with related personal lines offerings.