Insider Selling: United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) VP Sells 2,664 Shares of Stock

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.60, for a total transaction of $78,854.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,680.80. This trade represents a 17.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

United Fire Group Stock Down 0.2 %

UFCS opened at $29.49 on Friday. United Fire Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.04 and a twelve month high of $31.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.46. The stock has a market cap of $747.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.53.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Fire Group, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is 32.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UFCS. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $27,794,000 after purchasing an additional 27,376 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 821,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,195,000 after buying an additional 17,415 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 502,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,514,000 after buying 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 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 485,633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,164,000 after buying an additional 48,049 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UFCS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised 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 raised United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

About United Fire Group

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.