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

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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% annually over the last three years. United Fire Group has a dividend payout ratio of 23.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $658.39 million, a P/E ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.53. United Fire Group has a fifty-two week low of $18.04 and a fifty-two week high of $31.70.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that United Fire Group will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Fire Group

In other news, Director James Noyce purchased 2,000 shares of United Fire Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.97 per share, with a total value of $53,940.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,316 shares in the company, valued at $736,712.52. This represents a 7.90 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,680.80. The trade was a 17.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on United Fire Group from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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.

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.