United Fire Group, Inc. (UFCS) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 7th

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. 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% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Up 0.8 %

UFCS stock opened at $28.09 on Wednesday. United Fire Group has a fifty-two week low of $18.04 and a fifty-two week high of $31.70. The company has a market capitalization of $712.93 million, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.59.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that United Fire Group will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on United Fire Group from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James Noyce bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.97 per share, for a total transaction of $53,940.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,712.52. This trade represents a 7.90 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Corey Lynn Ruehle sold 2,664 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.60, for a total transaction of $78,854.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,680.80. This trade represents a 17.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.99% of the company’s stock.

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.