Universal (NYSE:UVV) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $39.42 and last traded at $39.4670, with a volume of 380,904 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Universal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Universal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Universal from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Universal Trading Down 3.4%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.55. The stock has a market cap of $953.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.75, a P/E/G ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.43). Universal had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $523.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.00 million. Equities analysts forecast that Universal Corporation will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 12th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Universal’s payout ratio is 431.17%.

Insider Activity at Universal

In other Universal news, Director Lennart Freeman sold 1,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total value of $88,779.24. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,935 shares in the company, valued at $843,701.70. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Universal

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Universal by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Virginia Estate & Retirement Planning Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Universal by 507.5% during the third quarter. Virginia Estate & Retirement Planning Advisors Inc. now owns 1,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Universal during the third quarter worth approximately $126,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Universal by 2,580.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 3,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Universal by 30.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

About Universal

Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) is a global agricultural products company primarily engaged in the procurement, processing and sale of leaf tobacco. Through its tobacco operations, the company purchases tobacco from growers, processes and stores the leaf, and supplies it to manufacturers of cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products.

Universal handles several types of tobacco, including flue-cured, burley, dark air-cured and oriental varieties, as well as other specialty leaf products.