United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 555,700 shares, an increase of 30.1% from the September 30th total of 427,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 115,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Fire Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UFCS. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in United Fire Group during the second quarter worth $65,000. Lion Street Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Fire Group in the second quarter worth about $201,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Fire Group during the 1st quarter worth about $202,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of United Fire Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Fire Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on United Fire Group from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

United Fire Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:UFCS traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 72,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 105,010. United Fire Group has a fifty-two week low of $18.04 and a fifty-two week high of $25.55. The firm has a market cap of $503.25 million, a P/E ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.31 and its 200-day moving average is $21.19.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $301.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.80 million. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 3.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($2.27) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that United Fire Group will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

United Fire Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. United Fire Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.76%.

United Fire Group Company 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.