United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) Announces $0.16 Quarterly Dividend

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 0.16 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th.

United Fire Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.2% per year over the last three years. United Fire Group has a dividend payout ratio of 23.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect United Fire Group to earn $2.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

United Fire Group Stock Up 0.8 %

United Fire Group stock opened at $28.09 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.59. The stock has a market cap of $712.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.53. United Fire Group has a 12-month low of $18.04 and a 12-month high of $31.70.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on United Fire Group from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Insider Activity at United Fire Group

In other United Fire Group news, VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.60, for a total value of $78,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,523 shares in the company, valued at $370,680.80. This trade represents a 17.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James Noyce acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.97 per share, for a total transaction of $53,940.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 27,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,712.52. This represents a 7.90 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.