United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) Announces $0.16 Quarterly Dividend

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of 0.16 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th.

United Fire Group has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 17.5% per year over the last three years. United Fire Group has a payout ratio of 39.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect United Fire Group to earn $1.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.7%.

United Fire Group Price Performance

UFCS traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $20.44. 9,877 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 102,777. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.86. United Fire Group has a fifty-two week low of $18.04 and a fifty-two week high of $25.55.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $301.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.80 million. United Fire Group had a net margin of 3.17% and a return on equity of 5.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.27) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that United Fire Group will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on UFCS shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of United Fire Group from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christopher R. Drahozal sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.06, for a total transaction of $52,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 449,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,463,584.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired 2,500 shares of company stock valued at $50,310 in the last three months. 5.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.