Ritholtz Wealth Management Reduces Stock Holdings in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV)

Ritholtz Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) by 44.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,701 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,305 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Universal were worth $376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVV. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Universal by 828.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Universal during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Universal by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Universal by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Universal during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. 81.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Universal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 31st.

Universal Stock Down 0.3%

Universal stock opened at $59.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.25. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 0.78. Universal Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $46.26 and a fifty-two week high of $67.33.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $702.28 million for the quarter. Universal had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 3.22%.

Universal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This is a boost from Universal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Universal’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

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.