Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 130,920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in United Fire Group during the second quarter worth $65,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in shares of United Fire Group by 82.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 3,098 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of United Fire Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in United Fire Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in United Fire Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $256,000. 62.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Fire Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UFCS opened at $31.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $799.54 million, a PE ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.96. United Fire Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.04 and a 12 month high of $31.67.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.60. United Fire Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 4.15%. The company had revenue of $322.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that United Fire Group, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

United Fire Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. United Fire Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UFCS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of United Fire Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th.

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.