State Street Corp Boosts Position in United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS)

State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 821,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,415 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 3.24% of United Fire Group worth $17,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UFCS. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter worth $65,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,611 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of United Fire Group by 82.3% in 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 period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in United Fire Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $223,000. 62.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Fire Group Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:UFCS opened at $29.10 on Wednesday. United Fire Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.04 and a twelve month high of $31.70. The company has a market cap of $737.45 million, a PE ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.62.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.60. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 4.15%. The business had revenue of $322.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Fire Group

In other United Fire Group news, VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,680.80. The trade was a 17.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on UFCS. Piper Sandler upgraded United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock 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 report on Friday, October 4th.

United Fire Group 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.