United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) Short Interest Update

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) saw a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 423,800 shares, a drop of 15.7% from the October 31st total of 502,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 124,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UFCS. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 576.4% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 4,611 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of United Fire Group by 82.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 3,098 shares during the period. Lion Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the second quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Fire Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $202,000. 62.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Fire Group Price Performance

UFCS opened at $30.60 on Friday. United Fire Group has a 12 month low of $18.04 and a 12 month high of $31.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $775.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 0.37.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.60. United Fire Group had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The company had revenue of $322.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Fire Group will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

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.