Bank of America Corp DE Has $2.18 Million Stake in Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,344 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,131 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.37% of Universal Insurance worth $2,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 13,804 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,415 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 76,132 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,674,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480 shares during the period. 66.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $526,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 951,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,066,908.78. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jon Springer sold 26,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.61, for a total value of $675,924.73. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 331,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,498,294.35. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,393 shares of company stock valued at $2,014,525 in the last ninety days. 16.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UVE opened at $28.26 on Tuesday. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.50 and a 1-year high of $28.30. The stock has a market cap of $795.38 million, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.32. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The business had revenue of $394.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $354.97 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.95%.

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.