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Universal Insurance (UVE) Moves 6.6% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

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Universal Insurance Holdings (UVE - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 6.6% higher at $20.90. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 16.8% gain over the past four weeks.

Its board of directors recently approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the company to repurchase up to $20 million of its outstanding shares of common stock through Mar 11, 2026. In the last reported quarter, UVE bought back 0.2 million shares for $3.6 million and had $4.1 million remaining under authorization.

The insurer continues to benefit from higher direct premiums earned and a lower seated premium ratio. These coupled with improved investment results and lower net expense ratio should drive the bottom line.

The company noted improving claims trends across the board, including reductions in total claims, represented claims, assigned claims and daily claims.

This property and casualty insurance company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.04 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +31.7%. Revenues are expected to be $336.09 million, up 6.2% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For Universal Insurance, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on UVE going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Universal Insurance belongs to the Zacks Insurance - Property and Casualty industry. Another stock from the same industry, Allstate (ALL - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 0.2% lower at $159.60. Over the past month, ALL has returned 0.4%.

For Allstate, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -0.3% over the past month to $3.47. This represents a change of +366.9% from what the company reported a year ago. Allstate currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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