United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $26.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $19.00.

Separately, StockNews.com raised United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

United Fire Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UFCS opened at $29.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $751.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.35. United Fire Group has a 52 week low of $18.04 and a 52 week high of $29.77.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $322.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that United Fire Group will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is 32.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of UFCS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in United Fire Group by 66.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,986 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 7,549 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the first quarter valued at $257,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the first quarter valued at $265,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the first quarter valued at $251,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,986 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. 62.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Fire Group Company Profile

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.