United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Shares Up 5.6% Following Insider Buying Activity

United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS)’s stock price was up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as $51.58 and last traded at $51.6310. 37,312 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 134,319 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.87.

Specifically, Director George Milligan purchased 5,000 shares of United Fire Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $47.41 per share, with a total value of $237,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 95,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,505,561.94. This trade represents a 5.55% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of United Fire Group from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of United Fire Group from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

United Fire Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $391.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $384.18 million. United Fire Group had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 14.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Fire Group, Inc will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio is 15.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the second quarter worth $34,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in United Fire Group during the second quarter worth $66,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in United Fire Group during the second quarter worth $69,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in United Fire Group by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in United Fire Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

United Fire Group Company Profile