Jon Springer, President and CRO at
Universal Insurance (UVE), recently picked up 10,000 shares. The buy increased his holdings by nearly 2 percent and came to just over $117,000.
He was joined by Stephen Donaghy, CEO, who also picked up 10,000 shares, paying just over $119,000. The company CIO also picked up 350 shares. This is the second cluster of insider buying in 2020, and insiders have been entire buyers since 2019.
Universal Insurance is a property and casualty insurance company with extensive policies in the Gulf states. Shares have been impacted by hurricane season, and are down nearly 56 percent in the past year.
With a cash-rich balance sheet and little debt, the company is one of the stronger players in the space. And even without the recent small insider buys, company insiders own over 9.5 percent of the company.
The company is currently at a loss, but trades under book value and at just half its price to sales. On an earnings recovery, shares are likely to head higher.
Action to take: Shareholders may be interested here as the drop in shares has pushed the dividend up to over 5.3 percent. For traders, the May 2021 $15 calls are going for around $0.85 per contract, and stand a good chance of moving in-the-money as hurricane season ends and shares head higher on lower claims in the winter season.