Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Announces $0.16 Quarterly Dividend

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.16 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th.

Universal Insurance has a payout ratio of 31.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Universal Insurance to earn $2.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

Universal Insurance Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:UVE opened at $20.18 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.63. Universal Insurance has a 52 week low of $11.15 and a 52 week high of $22.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $581.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $375.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $328.12 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 19.67%. Research analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. TheStreet raised Universal Insurance from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Universal Insurance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.72, for a total transaction of $394,400.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,162,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,919,806.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Universal Insurance Company 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.