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How to buy United Fire Group stock | 24.28
Own United Fire Group stock in just a few minutes.
United Fire Group, Inc is an insurance—property & casualty business based in the US. United Fire Group shares (UFCS) are listed on the NASDAQ and all prices are listed in US Dollars. United Fire Group employs 1,173 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$1.1 billion.
How to buy shares in United Fire Group
- Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
- Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
- Search for United Fire Group. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: UFCS. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
- Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until United Fire Group reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
- Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$24.28, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of United Fire Group, depending on your broker.
- Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of United Fire Group. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.
What's in this guide?
- UFCS shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is UFCS stock a buy or sell?
- Stock performance over time
- Can I short UFCS shares?
- Are UFCS shares over-valued?
- United Fire Group's financials
- How volatile are UFCS shares?
- Does United Fire Group pay a dividend?
- Have UFCS shares ever split?
- Other common questions
How has coronavirus impacted United Fire Group's share price?
Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, United Fire Group's share price has had significant negative movement.
Its last market close was USD$24.28, which is 46.00% down on its pre-crash value of USD$44.96 and 2.97% down on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$25.
If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of United Fire Group shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$647.24 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$533.43.
United Fire Group share price
Use our graph to track the performance of UFCS stocks over time.United Fire Group shares at a glance
Information last updated 2020-11-26.
| Latest market close | USD$24.28 |
|---|---|
| 52-week range | USD$18.83 - USD$45.9839 |
| 50-day moving average | USD$22.1275 |
| 200-day moving average | USD$24.7484 |
| Wall St. target price | USD$23 |
| PE ratio | 47 |
| Dividend yield | USD$0.6 (5.66%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | USD$0.342 |
Buy United Fire Group shares from these brokerages
Compare special offers, low fees and a wide range of types of investments among top trading platforms.The value of any investment can go up or down depending on news, trends and market conditions. We are not investment advisers, so do your own due diligence to understand the risks before you invest.
Is it a good time to buy United Fire Group stock?
The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.
This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.
United Fire Group price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the close of $24.28 from 2020-11-16
| 1 week (2020-11-19) | N/A |
|---|---|
| 1 month (2020-10-30) | 18.21% |
| 3 months (2020-08-26) | N/A |
| 6 months (2020-05-26) | N/A |
| 1 year (2019-11-26) | N/A |
|---|---|
| 2 years (2018-11-26) | N/A |
| 3 years (2017-11-26) | N/A |
| 5 years (2015-11-26) | N/A |
Is United Fire Group under- or over-valued?
Valuing United Fire Group stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of United Fire Group's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
United Fire Group's P/E ratio
United Fire Group's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 47x. In other words, United Fire Group shares trade at around 47x recent earnings.
That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.
United Fire Group's PEG ratio
United Fire Group's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.9. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.
The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into United Fire Group's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
United Fire Group's EBITDA
United Fire Group's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$9.5 million.
The EBITDA is a measure of a United Fire Group's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
United Fire Group financials
| Revenue TTM | USD$1.1 billion |
|---|---|
| Gross profit TTM | USD$16.9 million |
| Return on assets TTM | -3.5% |
| Return on equity TTM | -14.23% |
| Profit margin | -12.08% |
| Book value | $32.77 |
| Market capitalisation | USD$598.5 million |
TTM: trailing 12 months
Shorting United Fire Group shares
There are currently 254,760 United Fire Group shares held short by investors – that's known as United Fire Group's "short interest". This figure is 8.6% up from 234,685 last month.
There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting United Fire Group shares can be evaluated.
United Fire Group's "short interest ratio" (SIR)
United Fire Group's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of United Fire Group shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of United Fire Group shares traded daily (recently around 68117.647058824). United Fire Group's SIR currently stands at 3.74. In other words for every 100,000 United Fire Group shares traded daily on the market, roughly 3740 shares are currently held short.
However United Fire Group's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of United Fire Group shares, or, against the total number of tradable United Fire Group shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case United Fire Group's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 United Fire Group shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0146% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable United Fire Group shares, roughly 15 shares are currently held short).
Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against United Fire Group.
Find out more about how you can short United Fire Group stock.
United Fire Group share dividends
We're not expecting United Fire Group to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.
Have United Fire Group's shares ever split?
United Fire Group's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 16 December 2004. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your United Fire Group shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for United Fire Group shares which in turn could have impacted United Fire Group's share price.
United Fire Group share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, United Fire Group's shares have ranged in value from as little as $18.83 up to $45.9839. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".
Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while United Fire Group's is 0.0727. This would suggest that United Fire Group's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).
United Fire Group 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, as well as assumed reinsurance products. Its commercial policies include fire and allied lines, other liability, automobile, workers' compensation, and surety coverage; and personal lines comprise automobile, and fire and allied lines coverage, including homeowners. The company sells its products through a network of independent agencies. United Fire Group, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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