Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,593 shares of the company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Universal worth $915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Universal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its stake in Universal by 57.5% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Universal by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Universal by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Universal by 356.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares during the period. 81.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Universal Price Performance

UVV stock opened at $50.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 0.79. Universal Co. has a twelve month low of $44.40 and a twelve month high of $67.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.02. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter. Universal had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 4.98%. The business had revenue of $821.51 million during the quarter.

Universal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 5th. Universal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Universal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 10th.

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.