Invesco Ltd. Reduces Stock Holdings in United Fire Group, Inc $UFCS

Invesco Ltd. lowered its position in United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 13,900 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.65% of United Fire Group worth $4,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Fire Group in the first quarter valued at $559,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in United Fire Group by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 56,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,148 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in United Fire Group by 270.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in United Fire Group during the 1st quarter worth about $737,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in United Fire Group by 122.4% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 98,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 54,332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on UFCS shares. Zacks Research upgraded United Fire Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Jones Trading lifted their price objective on United Fire Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

United Fire Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ UFCS opened at $31.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $796.05 million, a P/E ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.53. United Fire Group, Inc has a 1-year low of $19.19 and a 1-year high of $32.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.04.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $314.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $337.99 million. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 6.94%. Equities analysts predict that United Fire Group, Inc will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.23%.

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.