Denali Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 7,908 Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV)

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

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Universal by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,913,551 shares of the company's stock worth $159,779,000 after purchasing an additional 38,940 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Universal by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 995,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,580,000 after purchasing an additional 201,185 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Universal by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 285,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,672,000 after purchasing an additional 38,914 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Universal by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 264,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,501,000 after purchasing an additional 13,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Universal by 80.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 135,563 shares of the company's stock worth $7,434,000 after acquiring an additional 60,580 shares in the last quarter. 81.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Universal Stock Performance

Shares of UVV traded up $0.43 on Wednesday, reaching $55.30. 130,890 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 206,898. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $58.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.56. 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 $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Universal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This is a positive change from Universal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Universal's payout ratio is 86.77%.

About Universal

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.