Unaudited Quarterly Financial Data (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]

Unaudited Quarterly Financial Data

	First Quarter			Second Quarter		Third Quarter		Fourth Quarter
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015
Operating Results:
Sales and other operating revenues	$	271,472		$	464,116	$	758,054	$	778,159
Gross profit	55,540			85,071		147,572		122,091
Net income	525			15,484		58,077		46,375
Net income attributable to Universal Corporation	717			15,025		53,039		45,827
Earnings (loss) available to Universal Corporation common shareholders after dividends on convertible perpetual preferred stock	(2,995		)	11,312		49,309		42,122
Earnings (loss) per share attributable to Universal Corporation common shareholders:
Basic	(0.13		)	0.49		2.13		1.86
Diluted	(0.13		)	0.48		1.87		1.64
Cash Dividends Declared:
Per share of convertible perpetual preferred stock	16.88			16.87		16.88		16.87
Per share of common stock	0.51			0.51		0.52		0.52
Market Price Range of Common Stock:
High	56.82			56.35		45.63		48.10
Low	52.16			44.39		38.53		39.27
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014
Operating Results:
Sales and other operating revenues	$	433,528		$	650,869	$	767,802	$	689,916
Gross profit	71,468			119,312		139,307		103,204
Net income	53,913			29,830		44,203		27,209
Net income attributable to Universal Corporation	58,309			25,444		38,585		26,671
Earnings available to Universal Corporation common shareholders after dividends on convertible perpetual preferred stock	54,597			21,731		34,873		22,958
Earnings per share attributable to Universal Corporation common shareholders:
Basic	2.34			0.94		1.50		0.99
Diluted	2.05			0.90		1.36		0.94
Cash Dividends Declared:
Per share of convertible perpetual preferred stock	16.88			16.87		16.88		16.87
Per share of common stock	0.50			0.50		0.51		0.51
Market Price Range of Common Stock:
High	61.46			63.36		54.60		58.99
Low	54.45			48.43		50.06		49.84