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

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 423,800 shares, a decline of 15.7% from the October 31st total of 502,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 124,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on UFCS shares. StockNews.com raised United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler upgraded United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UFCS. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 576.4% in the third 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. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,098 shares during the last quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in United Fire Group during the second quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in United Fire Group during the first quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

United Fire Group Trading Up 1.7 %

UFCS opened at $30.60 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.72 and its 200 day moving average is $21.66. The company has a market cap of $775.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 0.37. United Fire Group has a 12-month low of $18.04 and a 12-month high of $31.14.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 4.15%. The business had revenue of $322.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that United Fire Group will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 32.99%.

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.