Insider Buying: United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) SVP Buys $48,000.00 in Stock

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) SVP Micah G. Woolstenhulme purchased 2,500 shares of United Fire Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.20 per share, for a total transaction of $48,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,848. This represents a 6.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

United Fire Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UFCS opened at $26.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $675.56 million, a P/E ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.54. United Fire Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.04 and a 1 year high of $31.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.40.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $322.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.80 million. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 4.15%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Fire Group, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 147.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 26,469 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 821,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,195,000 after acquiring an additional 17,415 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 437,584 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,404,000 after acquiring an additional 45,405 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 502,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on UFCS shares. StockNews.com raised United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler raised United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

About United Fire Group

United Fire Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers commercial and personal lines of property and casualty insurance; and reinsurance coverage for property and casualty insurance. Its commercial lines include fire and allied lines, other liability, automobile, workers’ compensation, fidelity and surety coverage, and other insurance products; and personal lines comprise automobile, and fire and allied lines coverage, including homeowners, as well as provides assumed reinsurance products.