Wall Street Zen Upgrades United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) to “Buy”

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on UFCS. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of United Fire Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on United Fire Group from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JonesTrading raised their price target on United Fire Group from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

United Fire Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UFCS opened at $38.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.84. United Fire Group has a fifty-two week low of $25.01 and a fifty-two week high of $40.63. The company has a market capitalization of $982.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $365.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.34 million. United Fire Group had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 14.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Fire Group will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of United Fire Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $371,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in shares of United Fire Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 15,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group in the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in United Fire Group during the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its position in United Fire Group by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 87,973 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,198,000 after acquiring an additional 23,273 shares in the last quarter. 62.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.