Dee Ann Mcintyre Sells 4,250 Shares of United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Stock

United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS) major shareholder Dee Ann Mcintyre sold 4,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.94, for a total value of $161,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 433,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,441,792.22. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Dee Ann Mcintyre also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 2nd, Dee Ann Mcintyre sold 4,250 shares of United Fire Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.84, for a total value of $165,070.00.

United Fire Group Price Performance

NASDAQ UFCS traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.05. The company had a trading volume of 125,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,663. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $996.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.44. United Fire Group, Inc has a 52 week low of $25.01 and a 52 week high of $40.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.34.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.60. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 8.52%.The firm had revenue of $365.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.34 million. Equities research analysts expect that United Fire Group, Inc will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

United Fire Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from United Fire Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UFCS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in United Fire Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,511,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,945,000 after acquiring an additional 35,338 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,477,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,712,000 after purchasing an additional 10,887 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 809,086 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 615,052 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,361,000 after buying an additional 29,679 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 3.5% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 603,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,328,000 after buying an additional 20,413 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UFCS. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of United Fire Group from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of United Fire Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. JonesTrading boosted their price objective on United Fire Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research lowered shares of United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

United Fire Group Company Profile

United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ: UFCS) is an insurance holding company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that specializes in property and casualty coverage for commercial and personal lines. The company underwrites business through three primary segments: commercial, personal and specialty insurance. Within the commercial segment, United Fire Group offers tailored policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises, including general liability, commercial property and workers’ compensation. Its personal lines cover homeowners, auto, farm and umbrella policies.

United Fire Group distributes its products primarily through a national network of independent insurance agents and brokers.