Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV - Get Free Report) Director Robert Sledd sold 2,845 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.12, for a total value of $153,971.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,959 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $647,221.08. The trade was a 19.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
Universal Stock Performance
UVV opened at $52.84 on Tuesday. Universal Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.19 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.96, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.29 and a 200-day moving average of $53.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 3.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.
Universal (NYSE:UVV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($1.54). Universal had a net margin of 1.12% and a return on equity of 4.43%. The business had revenue of $715.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.20 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Universal Corporation will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.
Universal Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This is a positive change from Universal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Universal's payout ratio is 254.26%.
Institutional Trading of Universal
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVV. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Universal by 917.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 578,564 shares of the company's stock worth $32,324,000 after purchasing an additional 521,724 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Universal by 180.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 438,134 shares of the company's stock worth $25,517,000 after acquiring an additional 281,920 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Universal by 1,575.1% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 279,058 shares of the company's stock worth $15,591,000 after acquiring an additional 262,399 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Universal by 98.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 312,787 shares of the company's stock worth $16,500,000 after acquiring an additional 155,244 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Universal by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 815,801 shares of the company's stock worth $45,579,000 after acquiring an additional 142,439 shares during the period. 81.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms recently weighed in on UVV. Weiss Ratings cut Universal from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research cut Universal from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Universal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce".
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Universal
Universal Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) is a global agribusiness company primarily engaged in the procurement, processing and sale of leaf tobacco. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company sources cured leaf tobacco from key growing regions in North and South America, Africa and Asia. Universal serves major multinational tobacco manufacturers by providing a full range of services including inventory management, quality control and logistics support to ensure a consistent and reliable supply of tobacco leaf.
In addition to its core leaf tobacco operations, Universal offers integrated supply-chain services that encompass warehousing, distribution and ingredient sourcing for smokeless and novel tobacco products.
Featured Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
