Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) Stock Short Interest Report for September

Key Points

• Short interest surged 83.5% in September to 1.20 million shares, representing 5.1% of Universal Insurance’s outstanding stock and 7.0 days of average trading volume.
• Universal Insurance reported quarterly EPS of $1.84, beating the $1.57 consensus estimate, while analysts expect full-year EPS of $5.47. The stock was trading near its 52-week high, with a market capitalization of about $1.30 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a $45 consensus price target; institutional investors own 66.61% of the stock, while insiders own 15.00%.

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,196,016 shares, a growth of 83.5% from the September 15th total of 651,620 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 170,164 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.0 days. Currently, 5.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

UVE opened at $46.68 on Thursday. Universal Insurance has a 52-week low of $27.89 and a 52-week high of $47.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $43.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.43.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $419.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.62 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 37.67%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a+)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Universal Insurance from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Universal Insurance from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Universal Insurance currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $879,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 1,084,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,702,687.10. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 15.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Insurance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $111,007,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,849,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the second quarter worth $24,144,769. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the second quarter worth $10,530,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth $8,104,000. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Universal Insurance

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc NYSE: UVE is an insurance holding company focused primarily on personal residential property and casualty insurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

Universal's products have historically included homeowners, condominium, renters and dwelling-fire insurance, along with related personal lines offerings.

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