Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lessened its stake in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV - Free Report) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,059 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,515 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned 0.51% of Universal worth $7,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UVV. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Universal by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 995,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,580,000 after buying an additional 201,185 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 67,481 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Universal by 7,668.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 64,401 shares of the company's stock worth $3,610,000 after acquiring an additional 63,572 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Universal by 80.8% during the 4th 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Universal by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,913,551 shares of the company's stock worth $159,779,000 after acquiring an additional 38,940 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.00% of the company's stock.

Universal Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE UVV traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.70. 99,565 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 169,175. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Universal Corporation has a twelve month low of $46.26 and a twelve month high of $67.33. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $59.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.42.

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

Universal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.59%. This is a boost from Universal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Universal's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.