United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.11, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $391.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $384.18 million. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 9.57%.

United Fire Group Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:UFCS opened at $56.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $55.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.78. United Fire Group has a 52 week low of $30.00 and a 52 week high of $58.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.55.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is presently 14.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UFCS. Wall Street Zen downgraded United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of United Fire Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Fire Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

Insider Activity at United Fire Group

In other news, Director Scott Carlton sold 9,777 shares of United Fire Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $542,819.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 200,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,134,647.04. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Fire Group Company Profile

United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ: UFCS) is an insurance holding company headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company provides property and casualty insurance products to businesses, individuals, and organizations, primarily through a network of independent insurance agents.

Its product portfolio includes commercial property and liability coverage, commercial automobile insurance, workers’ compensation, surety bonds, and specialty insurance products.