United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) Short Interest Down 20.2% in January

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 251,500 shares, a decrease of 20.2% from the December 31st total of 315,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 137,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Piper Sandler raised United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.60, for a total transaction of $78,854.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,680.80. The trade was a 17.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Fire Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UFCS. Barclays PLC grew its position in United Fire Group by 147.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 26,469 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 821,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,195,000 after buying an additional 17,415 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,623 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after buying an additional 21,352 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $256,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Fire Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 502,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,925 shares during the period. 62.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Fire Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ UFCS opened at $24.81 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $628.69 million, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.53. United Fire Group has a 12-month low of $18.04 and a 12-month high of $31.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.38 and a 200 day moving average of $23.73.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $322.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.80 million. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 4.15%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that United Fire Group will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.99%.

United Fire Group Company 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.