Universal (NYSE:UVV) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Universal (NYSE:UVV - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Universal Stock Performance

NYSE:UVV traded down $0.05 on Friday, reaching $65.34. 375,062 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 160,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.71. Universal has a 52 week low of $45.19 and a 52 week high of $67.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.80.

Universal (NYSE:UVV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $702.28 million during the quarter. Universal had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 8.92%.

Universal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from Universal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Universal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Universal

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Universal by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 26,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. 81.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.