Navellier & Associates Inc. Purchases 5,376 Shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV)

Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,078 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,376 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. owned about 0.30% of Universal worth $4,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in shares of Universal by 0.7% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 28,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Universal by 6.6% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Universal by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management raised its stake in shares of Universal by 4.5% during the third quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 8,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Universal by 57.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. 81.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Universal Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UVV opened at $53.17 on Friday. Universal Co. has a 12 month low of $45.19 and a 12 month high of $59.13. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Universal declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Universal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Universal’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

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.