Leavell Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,579 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UVE. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Universal Insurance by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,064 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Universal Insurance by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 13,804 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Universal Insurance by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,189 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Universal Insurance by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,799 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Universal Insurance by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,758 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 2,083 shares during the period. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.91, for a total transaction of $672,750.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 926,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,936,608.97. This represents a 2.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jon Springer sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total value of $811,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 301,835 shares in the company, valued at $8,167,655.10. The trade was a 9.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,393 shares of company stock worth $2,687,275 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 16.60% of the company's stock.

Universal Insurance Trading Down 2.6%

UVE stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 358,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,086. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.07. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 1 year low of $16.50 and a 1 year high of $28.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $666.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.86.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.32. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 4.31%. The business had revenue of $394.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.97 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Universal Insurance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Universal Insurance's payout ratio is 27.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Universal Insurance from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated insurance holding company in the United States. It develops, markets, and underwrites insurance products for personal residential insurance, such as homeowners, renters/tenants, condo unit owners, and dwelling/fire; and offers allied lines, coverage for other structures, and personal property, liability, and personal articles coverages.