Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal during the fourth quarter worth $71,187,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Universal by 21.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,139,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,800,000 after buying an additional 203,514 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Universal by 19.0% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,117,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,755,000 after buying an additional 178,592 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Universal by 17,471.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 57,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,729,000 after buying an additional 57,481 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Universal by 18.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 350,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,540,000 after buying an additional 54,602 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Universal Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:UVV traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $51.91. 1,693,957 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 275,286. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 3.22. Universal Co. has a twelve month low of $44.40 and a twelve month high of $67.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.79.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter. Universal had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 4.98%. The firm had revenue of $821.51 million for the quarter.

Universal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.16%. Universal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.26%.

Universal 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.