UVVUniversal Corporation
Is it safe?
Strong, no red flags: a safe balance sheet and clean books.
Financially healthy, low distress risk Altman Z-score, a bankruptcy-risk model from five balance-sheet ratios.
Reported earnings show no manipulation flags Beneish M-score, a forensic model that detects earnings-manipulation patterns (receivables outrunning sales, margins slipping, accrual-heavy profit).
Mixed fundamental signals Piotroski F-score, nine pass/fail tests of year-over-year financial health across profitability, balance sheet and efficiency. 7 to 9 is strong, 0 to 3 weak.
Insiders were net sellers (-$89K, 90 days to Oct 22, 2026), selling is often routine.
Investment-grade balance sheet. A rule of thumb on leverage, not a credit rating.
Moderate price swings, typical volatility. Worst drawdown -46% · now 32% below its 52-week high.
Unless marked, from SEC EDGAR, as of Mar 31, 2026.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. Altman sits structurally low for utilities and pipelines; Beneish runs high for fast growers, since sales growth alone lifts it; banks and REITs are excluded.
Can UVV take a bad year?
Universal Corporation carries $1.01B of net debt at 6.04× EBITDA: a heavy load to carry through a bad year.
Net debt · as at Q1 2027 · over four years of earnings before interest, tax and depreciation, heavy
- Net debt / EBITDA
- 6.04×
Net debt / EBITDA · 3.74× a year ago · the load is going up
- Altman Z-score
- 2.88
Altman Z-score · grey zone, between 1.8 and 3
- Interest cover
- 1.88×
Interest cover · operating profit barely covers the interest bill
Details›
- Total debtQ1 2027
- $1.18B
- Cash and short-term investments
- $174M
- Net debt
- $1.01B
- EBITDA, trailing twelve months
- $167M
- Operating profit, trailing twelve months
- $137M
- Debt / equity
- 0.85×
- Total debt / EBITDA
- 7.07×
- Annualised volatilitytwo years of daily moves
- 25%
- Worst drawdown on file
- −46%
- Below its 52-week high
- 32%
Balance sheet from SEC filings; drawdown and volatility from end-of-day closes; Altman Z from the filed statements.
The balance sheet
What it owes against what it owns, and how close that comes to trouble.
How far can it fall?
How much the price moves, how deep and how long its falls have run, and what each unit of risk has paid.