United Fire Group, Inc $UFCS Shares Acquired by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS) by 320.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 50,925 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,825 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in United Fire Group were worth $1,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of United Fire Group by 812.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,570 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of United Fire Group by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of United Fire Group by 301.2% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,263 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of United Fire Group by 17.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,499 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UFCS. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of United Fire Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JonesTrading lifted their target price on shares of United Fire Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Fire Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

United Fire Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UFCS opened at $43.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.70. United Fire Group, Inc has a 1-year low of $25.79 and a 1-year high of $49.94.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $369.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $340.16 million. United Fire Group had a net margin of 9.16% and a return on equity of 14.65%. Analysts forecast that United Fire Group, Inc will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

United Fire Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase 2,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

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.