United Fire Group (UFCS) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. The company sells its products through a network of independent agencies. United Fire Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $25.05 to $25.45
• 50-Day Range: $19.26 to $25.48
• 52-Week Range: $18.04 to $25.88
• Volume: 78,661 shs
• Average Volume: 105,544 shs
• Market Capitalization: $644.14 million
• P/E Ratio: 13.10
• Dividend Yield: 2.52%
• Price Target: $19.00
• Consensus Rating: Sell

United Fire Group Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

United Fire Group scored higher than 59% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 573rd out of 963 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 0.5 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Sell

Consensus Rating

United Fire Group has received a consensus rating of Sell. The company's average rating score is 1.00, and is based on no buy ratings, no hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

United Fire Group has received no research coverage in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.8 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 36.36%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for United Fire Group are expected to grow by 36.36% in the coming year, from $1.10 to $1.50 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of United Fire Group is 13.10, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 113.06.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of United Fire Group is 13.10, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 26.89.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

United Fire Group has a P/B Ratio of 0.82. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.41% of the float of United Fire Group has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

United Fire Group has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 4.4.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in United Fire Group has recently decreased by 9.57%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

United Fire Group pays a meaningful dividend of 2.52%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

United Fire Group does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of United Fire Group is 32.99%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, United Fire Group will have a dividend payout ratio of 42.67% next year. This indicates that United Fire Group will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.41% of the float of United Fire Group has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

United Fire Group has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 4.4.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in United Fire Group has recently decreased by 9.57%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.03

News Sentiment

United Fire Group has a news sentiment score of 1.03. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.67 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 2 news articles for United Fire Group this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, United Fire Group insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 5.99% of the stock of United Fire Group is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

62.68% of the stock of United Fire Group is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

UFCS Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have UFCS shares performed this year?

United Fire Group's stock was trading at $20.12 at the beginning of the year. Since then, UFCS shares have increased by 26.3% and is now trading at $25.42.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were United Fire Group's earnings last quarter?

United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) released its earnings results on Tuesday, November, 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.60. The insurance provider had revenue of $322.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.80 million. United Fire Group had a net margin of 4.15% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 6.75%.

Who are United Fire Group's major shareholders?

United Fire Group's top institutional shareholders include State Street Corp (3.24%), Geode Capital Management LLC (1.98%), Systematic Financial Management LP (1.92%) and Assenagon Asset Management S.A. (1.25%). Insiders that own company stock include Christopher R Drahozal, George D Milligan, Micah G Woolstenhulme, Eric J Martin, James Noyce, Matthew R Foran, Lura E Mcbride and Mark A Green.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of United Fire Group?

Shares of UFCS stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of United Fire Group own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that United Fire Group investors own include American Water Works (AWK), Waste Connections (WCN), The RMR Group (RMR), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), AUO (AUOTY), iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) and Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR).

Company Calendar

• Ex-Dividend for 9/13 Dividend: 8/30/2024
• Dividend Payable: 9/13/2024
• Last Earnings: 11/05/2024
• Today: 11/17/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 2/11/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: Fire, marine, & casualty insurance
• Sub-Industry: Property & Casualty Insurance
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:UFCS
• CUSIP: 91034010
• CIK: 101199
• Web: www.ufginsurance.com
• Phone: (319) 399-5700
• Fax: 319-399-5499
• Employees: 852
• Year Founded: 1937

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $19.00
• High Stock Price Target: $19.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $19.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: -25.3%
• Consensus Rating: Sell
• Rating Score (0-4): 1.00
• Research Coverage: 1 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $1.94
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 13.10
• Forward P/E Ratio: 23.11
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $-29,700,000.00
• Net Margins: 4.15%
• Pretax Margin: 5.10%
• Return on Equity: 6.75%
• Return on Assets: 1.51%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: N/A
• Current Ratio: 0.41
• Quick Ratio: 0.41

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.10 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.59
• Cash Flow: N/A
• Price / Cash Flow: N/A
• Book Value: $31.01 per share
• Price / Book: 0.82

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 25,340,000
• Free Float: 23,824,000
• Market Cap: $644.14 million
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.37