United Fire Group, Inc (UFCS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.16 on December 19th

United Fire Group, Inc (NASDAQ:UFCS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.16 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, December 19th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th.

United Fire Group has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. United Fire Group has a dividend payout ratio of 23.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect United Fire Group to earn $2.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

United Fire Group Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ UFCS traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.00. 43,913 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 123,734. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.43. The stock has a market cap of $918.36 million, a P/E ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 0.47. United Fire Group has a 1 year low of $24.11 and a 1 year high of $37.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.81. United Fire Group had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $354.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.46 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that United Fire Group will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on UFCS shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Fire Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of United Fire Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Jones Trading boosted their target price 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, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of United Fire Group in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Fire Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

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.