Two Sigma Investments LP Sells 25,046 Shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV)

Two Sigma Investments LP decreased its holdings in shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV) by 43.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,165 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,046 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP owned about 0.13% of Universal worth $1,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Universal by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 264,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,501,000 after purchasing an additional 13,239 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Universal by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 6,936 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Universal by 103.5% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 55,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,023,000 after purchasing an additional 28,041 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Universal by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 21,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP increased its position in shares of Universal by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 6,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Universal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday.

Universal Stock Performance

NYSE UVV opened at $65.34 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Universal Co. has a 1 year low of $45.19 and a 1 year high of $67.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.71.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter. Universal had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 8.92%.

Universal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. This is a boost from Universal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Universal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.77%.

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.