United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.29 EPS

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.29, FiscalAI reports. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 9.16%.The firm had revenue of $369.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $340.16 million.

United Fire Group Price Performance

United Fire Group stock opened at $43.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.50. United Fire Group has a one year low of $25.79 and a one year high of $44.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

United Fire Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from United Fire Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

Insider Transactions at United Fire Group

In related news, major shareholder Dee Ann Mcintyre sold 4,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.84, for a total value of $165,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 437,613 shares in the company, valued at $16,996,888.92. This trade represents a 0.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher R. Drahozal sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.49, for a total transaction of $163,582.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 429,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,516,559.37. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,750 shares of company stock valued at $493,723 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in United Fire Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,477,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,712,000 after acquiring an additional 10,887 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,476,203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,906,000 after purchasing an additional 36,952 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 0.4% during the 4th 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 615,052 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,361,000 after purchasing an additional 29,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 20.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 419,177 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,751,000 after purchasing an additional 72,169 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded United Fire Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, JonesTrading increased their price objective on United Fire Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

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.