Martingale Asset Management L P Increases Holdings in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc by 103.3% during the first quarter, owning 72,774 shares valued at approximately $1.73 million.
• Insider selling occurred with Director Jon Springer and Chairman Sean P. Downes selling 30,000 and 25,000 shares respectively, decreasing their ownership percentages.
• Universal Insurance recently reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share with a 2.6% dividend yield.

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE - Free Report) by 103.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,774 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 36,982 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned 0.26% of Universal Insurance worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 6.8% in the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,836,718 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,530,000 after acquiring an additional 116,199 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,496,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,510,000 after buying an additional 6,250 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 668,641 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,847,000 after buying an additional 59,752 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 366,877 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,726,000 after buying an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 325,910 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,864,000 after buying an additional 11,623 shares in the last quarter. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Universal Insurance from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $672,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 16.60% of the company's stock.

Universal Insurance Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:UVE traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.39. 11,855 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 210,911. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 1-year low of $16.50 and a 1-year high of $28.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.06. The firm has a market cap of $690.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.87.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.14. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 4.24%.The company had revenue of $596.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.98 million. Research analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Universal Insurance's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.95%.

About Universal Insurance

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.