Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 62,198 Shares of Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV - Free Report) by 222.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,141 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 62,198 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.36% of Universal worth $5,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 1.7% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 16,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 38.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 2.8% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,727 shares of the company's stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 8.3% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Universal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 31st.

Universal Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of UVV opened at $54.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Universal Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.05 and a 12 month high of $67.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.61.

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

Universal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from Universal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Universal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.77%.

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.

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