TrueMark Investments LLC Decreases Stake in Universal Corporation $UVV

Key Points

• TrueMark Investments LLC reduced its stake in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) by 12.7% in the second quarter, now owning 0.34% of the company valued at approximately $4.95 million.
• Universal recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with an annualized yield of 6.1%, payable on November 3rd to stockholders on record as of October 13th.
• Universal's stock has seen a moderate buy rating consensus, with recent upgrades from Wall Street Zen and Zacks Research enhancing investor outlook.

TrueMark Investments LLC lessened its stake in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,899 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,311 shares during the quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC owned 0.34% of Universal worth $4,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Universal by 1.6% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 16,786 shares of the company's stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Universal by 2.0% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,015 shares of the company's stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in Universal by 8.3% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,654 shares of the company's stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Universal during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Universal

In other news, COO Airton L. Hentschke sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.94, for a total transaction of $549,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 135,129 shares in the company, valued at $7,423,987.26. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Sledd sold 4,617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.25, for a total value of $245,855.25. Following the sale, the director owned 15,698 shares of the company's stock, valued at $835,918.50. This trade represents a 22.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,417 shares of company stock worth $943,347 over the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UVV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Universal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Universal to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Universal in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Universal currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Universal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UVV opened at $53.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Universal Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.40 and a twelve month high of $67.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.74.

Universal (NYSE:UVV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter. Universal had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 3.51%.The business had revenue of $593.76 million during the quarter.

Universal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Universal's dividend payout ratio is 79.81%.

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.

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