Globeflex Capital L P Buys New Shares in United Fire Group, Inc $UFCS

Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,301,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in United Fire Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $183,136,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,511,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,945,000 after purchasing an additional 35,338 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,489,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,219,000 after purchasing an additional 12,329 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of United Fire Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 809,086 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $22,361,000 after purchasing an additional 29,679 shares during the period. 62.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on UFCS. JonesTrading upped their target price on United Fire Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Fire Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of United Fire Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Fire Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $52.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George D. Milligan acquired 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.23 per share, with a total value of $203,535.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 90,034 shares in the company, valued at $4,072,237.82. The trade was a 5.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.06% of the company’s stock.

United Fire Group Stock Performance

UFCS stock opened at $53.02 on Monday. United Fire Group, Inc has a 1-year low of $29.74 and a 1-year high of $55.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.85 and its 200-day moving average is $44.69. 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 earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $383.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.76 million. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 9.57%. Equities analysts anticipate that United Fire Group, Inc will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.87%.

United Fire Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 20th that permits the company to repurchase 2,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

United Fire Group 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.