Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.16 EPS

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.16, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $384.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.91 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of UVE stock opened at $21.00 on Wednesday. Universal Insurance has a 52 week low of $16.50 and a 52 week high of $23.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.01 and a 200 day moving average of $20.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $593.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is 26.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $1,025,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 985,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,208,913.20. This trade represents a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.63, for a total transaction of $515,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 383,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,905,993.64. This represents a 6.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

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.