Universal Corporation $UVV Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,744 shares of the company’s stock after selling 242 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Universal were worth $335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,929,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,211,000 after purchasing an additional 16,170 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 582,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,651,000 after purchasing an additional 7,402 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 340,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,918,000 after purchasing an additional 55,170 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 265,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Universal by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 227,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after purchasing an additional 3,547 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Universal news, Director Lennart R. Freeman sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total transaction of $148,092.00. Following the sale, the director owned 19,669 shares in the company, valued at $1,040,293.41. This represents a 12.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Sledd sold 4,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.25, for a total value of $245,855.25. Following the sale, the director owned 15,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,918.50. This trade represents a 22.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,417 shares of company stock worth $943,347 in the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on UVV shares. Zacks Research upgraded Universal to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Universal in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Universal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Universal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UVV opened at $52.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $54.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Universal Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.40 and a 1-year high of $67.33. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.74.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter. Universal had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 3.51%.The company had revenue of $593.76 million for the quarter.

Universal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Universal’s dividend payout ratio is 79.81%.

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.