Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Cuts Holdings in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. decreased its stake in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) by 14.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,564,468 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 272,250 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned about 0.06% of Universal Insurance worth $43,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Universal Insurance in the first quarter worth $59,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Universal Insurance in the first quarter valued at $64,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,829 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Universal Insurance

In related news, Director Jon Springer sold 35,435 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.41, for a total value of $1,113,013.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 271,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,531,835.48. This represents a 11.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.46, for a total value of $669,200.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 1,263,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,277,111.52. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,743 shares of company stock valued at $3,249,082. 16.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UVE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Universal Insurance in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Universal Insurance Trading Down 2.9%

UVE stock opened at $31.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $875.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.39. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 1-year low of $18.72 and a 1-year high of $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.26. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 28.25% and a net margin of 7.74%.The business had revenue of $400.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.36 million. Research analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is presently 15.09%.

Universal Insurance Profile

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.