United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on UFCS. Jones Trading upped their price objective on United Fire Group from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Zacks Research downgraded United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of United Fire Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of United Fire Group from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Fire Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

United Fire Group Price Performance

UFCS stock opened at $35.94 on Friday. United Fire Group has a 52 week low of $24.11 and a 52 week high of $37.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $916.83 million, a P/E ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.81. United Fire Group had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $354.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $354.46 million. Analysts anticipate that United Fire Group will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of United Fire Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Fire Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,511,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,945,000 after purchasing an additional 35,338 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the 4th quarter worth $220,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of United Fire Group by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,409 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 1,878 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 14,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 25,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. 62.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About United Fire Group

United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ: UFCS) is an insurance holding company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that specializes in property and casualty coverage for commercial and personal lines. The company underwrites business through three primary segments: commercial, personal and specialty insurance. Within the commercial segment, United Fire Group offers tailored policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises, including general liability, commercial property and workers’ compensation. Its personal lines cover homeowners, auto, farm and umbrella policies.

United Fire Group distributes its products primarily through a national network of independent insurance agents and brokers.