Insider Buying: United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) SVP Buys 2,500 Shares of Stock

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) SVP Micah G. Woolstenhulme purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.20 per share, with a total value of $48,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,940 shares in the company, valued at $766,848. The trade was a 6.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

United Fire Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UFCS opened at $26.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $675.56 million, a P/E ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.54. United Fire Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.04 and a 12-month high of $31.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.40.

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

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UFCS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Institutional Trading of United Fire Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UFCS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $223,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 33,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,108 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 190,672 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,098,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. 62.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.