United Fire Group, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.16 (NASDAQ:UFCS)

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 0.16 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th.

United Fire Group has increased its dividend by an average of 2.2% per year over the last three years. United Fire Group has a payout ratio of 23.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect United Fire Group to earn $2.65 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 24.2%.

United Fire Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UFCS opened at $25.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $658.39 million, a PE ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.23. United Fire Group has a 52-week low of $18.04 and a 52-week high of $31.70.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.64. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 4.94%. Equities analysts forecast that United Fire Group will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.60, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 17.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Noyce acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.97 per share, with a total value of $53,940.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,712.52. This represents a 7.90 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UFCS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on United Fire Group from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

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.