Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases Shares of 7,139 United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new position in United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in United Fire Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $119,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in United Fire Group by 576.4% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 4,611 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 82.3% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 3,098 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the 4th quarter valued at $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of United Fire Group from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jones Trading raised shares of United Fire Group to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th.

United Fire Group Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ UFCS opened at $29.15 on Wednesday. United Fire Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.04 and a 12 month high of $31.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.46. The company has a market capitalization of $739.86 million, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 0.45.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.64. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 4.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Fire Group, Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is 26.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Fire Group news, major shareholder Dee Ann Mcintyre sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total value of $68,275.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 446,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,203,828.53. The trade was a 0.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James Noyce bought 2,000 shares of United Fire Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.97 per share, with a total value of $53,940.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,712.52. The trade was a 7.90 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.99% of the company’s stock.

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.