10,121 Shares in United Fire Group, Inc $UFCS Acquired by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 10,121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $531,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in United Fire Group by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,499 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 129.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in United Fire Group by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of United Fire Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,482 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. 62.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Carlton sold 9,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $542,819.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 200,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,134,647.04. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research downgraded United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on United Fire Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Fire Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

United Fire Group Stock Up 2.0%

UFCS stock opened at $54.76 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. United Fire Group, Inc has a 1-year low of $29.74 and a 1-year high of $56.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.52.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $383.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.76 million. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 9.57%. Analysts expect that United Fire Group, Inc will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

United Fire Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 20th that permits the company to buyback 2,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is currently 14.87%.

United Fire Group Profile

United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ: UFCS) is an insurance holding company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that specializes in property and casualty coverage for commercial and personal lines. The company underwrites business through three primary segments: commercial, personal and specialty insurance. Within the commercial segment, United Fire Group offers tailored policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises, including general liability, commercial property and workers’ compensation. Its personal lines cover homeowners, auto, farm and umbrella policies.

United Fire Group distributes its products primarily through a national network of independent insurance agents and brokers.