AQR Capital Management LLC Has $5.56 Million Stock Position in United Fire Group, Inc $UFCS

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS) by 79.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 188,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 83,654 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.74% of United Fire Group worth $5,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in United Fire Group by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 252,449 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after acquiring an additional 109,453 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in United Fire Group in the 1st quarter valued at $2,652,000. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in United Fire Group by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 552,194 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,710,000 after acquiring an additional 66,561 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in United Fire Group by 90.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 119,091 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,508,000 after acquiring an additional 56,543 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in United Fire Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,399,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,230,000 after acquiring an additional 49,290 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UFCS shares. Zacks Research upgraded United Fire Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Jones Trading increased 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. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Fire Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

United Fire Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ UFCS opened at $31.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. United Fire Group, Inc has a 52 week low of $19.19 and a 52 week high of $32.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $806.76 million, a P/E ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.18 and its 200 day moving average is $28.45.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $314.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $337.99 million. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 6.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Fire Group, Inc will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.23%.

United Fire Group 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.