Lion Street Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 9,350 United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS)

Lion Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,350 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of UFCS. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group during the second quarter worth $535,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $453,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in United Fire Group by 24.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 84,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 16,495 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in United Fire Group by 40.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 234,214 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,033,000 after buying an additional 67,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 93.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 6,631 shares during the period. 62.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler raised shares of United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

United Fire Group Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ UFCS opened at $25.48 on Thursday. United Fire Group, Inc. has a one year low of $18.04 and a one year high of $31.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $28.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $645.66 million, a PE ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.53.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $322.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.80 million. United Fire Group had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 6.75%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that United Fire Group, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of United Fire Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was 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 directly owns 12,523 shares in the company, valued at $370,680.80. The trade was a 17.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.