Insider Selling: Universal (NYSE:UVV) Director Sells $88,779.24 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Lennart Freeman sold 1,782 Universal shares for $88,779.24, reducing his ownership by 9.52% to 16,935 shares.
• Universal shares fell 2.2% to $46.34, near the company’s one-year low, after quarterly results missed expectations on both earnings and revenue.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, equivalent to a 7.2% annualized yield, though its payout ratio remains elevated at 431.17%.

Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV - Get Free Report) Director Lennart Freeman sold 1,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total value of $88,779.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,701.70. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Universal Stock Down 2.2%

NYSE UVV traded down $1.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.34. 428,994 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 231,319. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.60. Universal Corporation has a 1 year low of $46.19 and a 1 year high of $59.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 2.57.

Universal (NYSE:UVV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $523.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.00 million. Universal had a return on equity of 3.50% and a net margin of 0.67%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Universal Corporation will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 12th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Universal's dividend payout ratio is currently 431.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Universal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,983,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,402,000 after buying an additional 35,513 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Universal by 1.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,378,295 shares of the company's stock worth $80,272,000 after buying an additional 21,763 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Universal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 853,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,034,000 after acquiring an additional 37,921 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Universal by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 624,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,943,000 after acquiring an additional 5,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Universal by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 610,525 shares of the company's stock worth $32,205,000 after acquiring an additional 31,961 shares during the period. 81.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Universal from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research raised Universal from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold".

About Universal

Universal Corporation NYSE: UVV is a global agribusiness company primarily engaged in the procurement, processing and sale of leaf tobacco. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company sources cured leaf tobacco from key growing regions in North and South America, Africa and Asia. Universal serves major multinational tobacco manufacturers by providing a full range of services including inventory management, quality control and logistics support to ensure a consistent and reliable supply of tobacco leaf.

In addition to its core leaf tobacco operations, Universal offers integrated supply-chain services that encompass warehousing, distribution and ingredient sourcing for smokeless and novel tobacco products.

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