34,457 Shares in United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 34,457 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $980,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.14% of United Fire Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UFCS. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 147.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,380 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 26,469 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 21,352 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 103,210 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in United Fire Group by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 118,291 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,365,000 after buying an additional 27,748 shares during the period. 62.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on UFCS shares. Jones Trading raised shares of United Fire Group to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of United Fire Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of United Fire Group from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

United Fire Group Price Performance

Shares of UFCS opened at $28.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $718.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.33. United Fire Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.04 and a 1-year high of $31.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.93 and a 200 day moving average of $27.00.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.64. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 4.94%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that United Fire Group, Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. United Fire Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Fire Group news, Director Christopher R. Drahozal sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.33, for a total value of $70,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 441,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,517,978.79. The trade was a 0.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James Noyce acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.97 per share, for a total transaction of $53,940.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,712.52. This represents a 7.90 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UFCS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.