Micah G. Woolstenhulme Acquires 2,500 Shares of United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) Stock

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

United Fire Group Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:UFCS traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $26.96. The stock had a trading volume of 75,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,883. The company has a market capitalization of $683.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 0.54. United Fire Group, Inc. has a one year low of $18.04 and a one year high of $31.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.52 and a 200 day moving average of $23.33.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $322.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 posted $0.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Fire Group, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.16 dividend. 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 2.37%. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in United Fire Group by 2.2% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,293,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,794,000 after buying an additional 27,376 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in United Fire Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 821,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,195,000 after acquiring an additional 17,415 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 502,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,925 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in United Fire Group by 11.0% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 485,633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,164,000 after purchasing an additional 48,049 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 315,779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,609,000 after buying an additional 93,836 shares during the period. 62.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.