United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $37.40 and last traded at $37.1350, with a volume of 16928 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on UFCS. Jones Trading lifted their price objective on shares of United Fire Group from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of United Fire Group in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

United Fire Group Trading Down 0.1%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.70. The firm has a market cap of $945.55 million, a P/E ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.81. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 6.94%.The firm had revenue of $354.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $354.46 million. As a group, research analysts predict that United Fire Group, Inc will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Fire Group news, Director John Paul E. Besong sold 2,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.26, for a total value of $79,037.00. Following the sale, the director owned 24,494 shares in the company, valued at $790,176.44. This trade represents a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UFCS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Fire Group by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,476,203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,906,000 after purchasing an additional 36,952 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,466,752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,618,000 after buying an additional 7,230 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in shares of United Fire Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 603,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,328,000 after buying an additional 20,413 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 20.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 419,177 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,751,000 after buying an additional 72,169 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 28.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 323,885 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,296,000 after buying an additional 71,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

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.