United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Stock Rating Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded United Fire Group from “buy” to “hold.” Analyst views elsewhere remain mixed, but MarketBeat reports a consensus “Strong Buy” rating and an average price target of $51.50.
• United Fire Group beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $1.34 versus $1.23 expected and revenue of $391.63 million versus $384.18 million expected.
• The stock opened at $47.73, within its 12-month range of $33.53 to $58.19; director Scott Carlton also sold 9,777 shares in a transaction valued at about $543,000.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on UFCS. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of United Fire Group from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut United Fire Group from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and an average target price of $51.50.

United Fire Group Stock Performance

UFCS opened at $47.73 on Friday. United Fire Group has a 12-month low of $33.53 and a 12-month high of $58.19. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.55. The company's 50 day moving average is $54.82 and its 200 day moving average is $46.97. 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 (NASDAQ:UFCS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $391.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $384.18 million. United Fire Group had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 15.19%. On average, equities research analysts predict that United Fire Group will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Fire Group

In other news, Director Scott Carlton sold 9,777 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $542,819.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 200,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,134,647.04. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of United Fire Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UFCS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Fire Group in the second quarter valued at about $183,136,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,489,968 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $55,219,000 after acquiring an additional 12,329 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $24,936,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,720,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,689,000. 62.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About United Fire Group

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.

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