HighTower Advisors LLC Invests $256,000 in United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS)

HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,854 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UFCS. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP boosted its holdings in United Fire Group by 21.5% in the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 12,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,278 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

United Fire Group Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ UFCS opened at $29.10 on Wednesday. United Fire Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.04 and a 1 year high of $31.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.62. The company has a market cap of $737.45 million, a P/E ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.52.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 6.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that United Fire Group, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Fire Group news, VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.60, for a total value of $78,854.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,680.80. This represents a 17.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 5.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on UFCS. Piper Sandler upgraded United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised 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 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.