Denali Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV)

Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Universal by 38.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Universal by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,913,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,779,000 after acquiring an additional 38,940 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Universal by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 15,155 shares of the company's stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Universal in the 1st quarter worth approximately $437,000. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Universal by 227.0% during the 1st quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 97,210 shares of the company's stock worth $5,449,000 after purchasing an additional 67,481 shares during the last quarter. 81.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Universal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st.

Universal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UVV traded down $0.49 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.45. The company had a trading volume of 265,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,439. Universal Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.05 and a 52 week high of $67.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.87. The business's 50 day moving average price is $58.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.56.

Universal (NYSE:UVV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter. Universal had a net margin of 3.22% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $702.28 million during the quarter.

Universal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. This is a positive change from Universal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Universal's payout ratio is presently 86.77%.

Universal Profile

Universal Corporation processes and supplies leaf tobacco and plant-based ingredients worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Tobacco Operations; and Ingredients Operations. It is involved in the procuring, financing, processing, packing, storing, and shipping leaf tobacco for sale to manufacturers of consumer tobacco products.