Teacher Retirement System of Texas Makes New $202,000 Investment in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Universal in the fourth quarter worth about $1,329,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Universal by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Universal by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Universal by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,913,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,779,000 after buying an additional 38,940 shares during the period. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Universal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,630,000. 81.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Universal Stock Performance

Universal stock opened at $54.45 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.56. Universal Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.05 and a 1-year high of $67.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40 and a beta of 0.73.

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

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 is a positive change from Universal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Universal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Universal Company Profile

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.