Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Board of Directors Initiates Share Buyback Plan

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 29th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $20 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Universal Insurance Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:UVE traded up $1.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $47.50. 220,051 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 221,607. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.71. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.69. Universal Insurance has a 12-month low of $28.32 and a 12-month high of $50.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.36. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 38.15%. The firm had revenue of $444.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $601.67 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UVE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Universal Insurance from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Universal Insurance currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Insurance

In related news, Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $879,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,084,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,702,687.10. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Insurance

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance through its subsidiaries. Its primary business is personal residential insurance, with products designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

The company’s offerings include homeowners, condominium unit owners, renters and dwelling fire insurance, along with related residential property coverage.