Universal Corporation Common Stock (UVV)

FairStock Score: 42/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I approach Universal as a Graham-style asset situation: at $41.52 on 2026-10-13, it trades at 0.75 times book, and FairStock labels it an ASSET PLAY for that reason. The business is a B2B leaf-tobacco and plant-ingredient supplier, not a branded cigarette maker. Scale and grower relationships give it some staying power, but the numbers do not show a wide moat. Return on equity is only 2.28% and ROCE 3.59% (FairStock calculations), too low for a high-quality compounder. Financial strength is mixed: debt-to-equity is 0.86 and the Altman Z-Score is 1.61; the Piotroski F-Score is 2/9. Earnings have deteriorated. In fiscal FY2026, the year ended 2026-03-31, revenue was $2.9B and net income $32.6M, down from $95.0M in FY2025 and $119.6M in FY2024. Diluted EPS fell to $1.30 from $3.78 and $4.78. In fiscal Q1 2027, the quarter ended 2026-06-30, revenue was $520.3M and net loss was $5.0M. Yet trailing free cash flow was $164.4M, a 15.9% FCF yield, and the dividend yield is 7.52%. The market cap is about $1.0B, so the indicated dividend is roughly $75M, above FY2026 net income but below trailing FCF. Valuation is not obviously cheap: FairStock P/E is 54.63, P/B 0.75, and the Graham Number is $30.86, so at $41.52 the price is above that FairStock benchmark. I would want evidence that cash flow and book value are durable before calling this a bargain.

In plain English: Universal buys, processes, and sells tobacco leaf and plant ingredients to businesses. The business has been making much less money lately, and the latest reported quarter showed a small loss. The stock pays a high dividend and trades below its book value, but with weak profits the price does not look clearly cheap.

The full AI analysis, bull and bear case and key monitorables are in FairStock Pro.

Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q1 2027 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q3 2026 10-Q (period ended 2025-12-31) · fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · FY2026 10-K (period ended 2026-03-31) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-03-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-03-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer