Universal (UVV) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) is a global leaf tobacco supplier and processor. Through its operating companies, the company purchases tobacco from growers, processes and blends leaf, and supplies tobacco products and related materials to manufacturers of cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products. Its services include crop contracting, agricultural support, curing, processing, storage, packaging and logistics.

Founded in 1918 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Universal has developed an international network of tobacco sourcing, processing and distribution operations. The company works with growers and customers across major tobacco-producing regions, including North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. In addition to tobacco, Universal has pursued businesses involving plant-based ingredients and other agricultural products.

Universal’s operations are designed to connect tobacco farmers with manufacturers by managing the supply chain from seed and crop production through processed leaf delivery. George C. Freeman III serves as the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $41.45 to $42.46
• 50-Day Range: $41.54 to $52.03
• 52-Week Range: $41.10 to $59.38
• Volume: 278,437 shs
• Average Volume: 373,966 shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.03 billion
• P/E Ratio: 20.25
• Dividend Yield: 7.99%
• Price Target: N/A
• Consensus Rating: Reduce

Universal Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Universal scored higher than 47% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 110th out of 169 stocks in the consumer staples sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 1.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Reduce

Consensus Rating

Universal has received a consensus rating of Reduce. The company's average rating score is 1.50, and is based on no strong buy ratings, no buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and 1 sell rating.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Universal has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 24.21%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Universal are expected to grow by 24.21% in the coming year, from $3.18 to $3.95 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Universal is 53.95, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.94.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Universal is 53.95, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Staples sector average P/E ratio of about 13.83.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Universal has a PEG Ratio of 13.21. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Universal has a P/B Ratio of 0.71. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

8.92% of the float of Universal has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Universal has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.41.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Universal has recently increased by 6.10%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Universal is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 7.69%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Universal has been increasing its dividend for 56 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Universal is 431.17%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, Universal will have a dividend payout ratio of 84.05% in the coming year. This indicates that Universal may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.33

News Sentiment

Universal has a news sentiment score of 0.33. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.55 average news sentiment score of Consumer Staples companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 11 news articles for Universal this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

11 people have searched for UVV on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 10% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

13 people have added Universal to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 1,200% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Universal insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $88,779.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

2.20% of the stock of Universal is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

81.00% of the stock of Universal is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Record date for 8/3 Dividend: 7/13/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 8/3 Dividend: 7/13/2026
• Dividend Payable: 8/03/2026
• Last Earnings: 8/05/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 11/2 Dividend: 10/09/2026
• Record date for 11/2 Dividend: 10/12/2026
• Today: 10/13/2026
• Dividend Payable: 11/02/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/04/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 3/31/2027

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Consumer Staples
• Industry: Tobacco
• Sub-Industry: Tobacco
• Current Symbol: NYSE:UVV
• CIK: 102037
• Web: www.universalcorp.com
• Phone: (804) 359-9311
• Fax: 804-254-3594
• Employees: 25,000
• Year Founded: 1886

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $0.77
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 53.95
• Forward P/E Ratio: 13.06
• P/E Growth: 13.21
• Net Income: $32.64 million
• Net Margins: 0.67%
• Pretax Margin: 2.45%
• Return on Equity: 3.50%
• Return on Assets: 1.74%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.43
• Current Ratio: 2.57
• Quick Ratio: 1.00

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $2.85 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.36
• Cash Flow: $6.38 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 6.51
• Book Value: $58.62 per share
• Price / Book: 0.71

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 24,899,000
• Free Float: 24,351,000
• Market Cap: $1.03 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.58