United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.11, FiscalAI reports. United Fire Group had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 15.19%. The business had revenue of $391.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $384.18 million.

United Fire Group Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:UFCS traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $56.65. 158,797 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,225. The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.67. United Fire Group has a twelve month low of $30.00 and a twelve month high of $58.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is 14.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on UFCS. Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of United Fire Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Fire Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Fire Group has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $52.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Fire Group

In other United Fire Group news, Director Scott Carlton sold 9,777 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $542,819.04. Following the sale, the director owned 200,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,134,647.04. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.06% of the company’s stock.

United Fire Group Company Profile

United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ: UFCS) is an insurance holding company headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company provides property and casualty insurance products to businesses, individuals, and organizations, primarily through a network of independent insurance agents.

Its product portfolio includes commercial property and liability coverage, commercial automobile insurance, workers’ compensation, surety bonds, and specialty insurance products.