United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) Rating Increased to Neutral at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $26.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $19.00.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th.

United Fire Group Trading Up 7.9 %

NASDAQ UFCS opened at $27.43 on Monday. United Fire Group has a 12 month low of $18.04 and a 12 month high of $27.68. The stock has a market cap of $695.08 million, a PE ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.98 and its 200 day moving average is $21.24.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.60. United Fire Group had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $322.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that United Fire Group will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UFCS. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in United Fire Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 44,090 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of United Fire Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 193,283 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after buying an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of United Fire Group by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,986 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in United Fire Group by 10.5% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,108 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in United Fire Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 33,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. 62.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.