Rhumbline Advisers Trims Position in Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its stake in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 803 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.14% of Universal Insurance worth $738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Universal Insurance during the 2nd quarter worth $196,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Universal Insurance by 17.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance in the first quarter valued at about $289,000. Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 16,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new position in Universal Insurance during the 1st quarter worth approximately $326,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Insider Activity at Universal Insurance

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.47, for a total transaction of $449,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,082,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,318,427.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.47, for a total value of $449,400.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,082,262 shares in the company, valued at $24,318,427.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jon Springer sold 35,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total transaction of $722,101.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 473,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,729,146.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock worth $1,571,502. 17.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Universal Insurance Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:UVE opened at $22.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $636.48 million, a P/E ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.89. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.10 and a 52-week high of $23.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.75.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $380.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $340.09 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 5.60% and a return on equity of 21.14%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.10%.

About Universal Insurance

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated insurance holding company in the United States. It develops, markets, and underwrites insurance products for personal residential insurance, such as homeowners, renters/tenants, condo unit owners, and dwelling/fire; and offers allied lines, coverage for other structures, and personal property, liability, and personal articles coverages.