Fundamentals snapshot
UFCS · NMS · Financial Services · Insurance - Property & Casualty
Current price
$56.41
52-week range
$29.85 - $58.20
Market cap
$1.45B
One-glance verdict
We don't put a cash-flow fair value on banks and insurers. For these companies the reported 'cash flow' is really just money moving between loans, deposits and trades — not the leftover profit the owners could actually pocket — so the usual method would print a misleading number.
Balance sheet
Net debt $6.91M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
What this company does
United Fire Group, Inc. is an insurance company that primarily sells property and casualty insurance and surety bonds to small and medium-sized businesses across various industries like construction and retail. Their main source of money comes from the premiums (the regular payments customers make for insurance) they collect for these insurance policies. This matters because these premiums fund their ability to pay out claims if something bad happens to their customers' businesses or property, and also cover their operating costs.
United Fire Group, Inc. (UFG) was founded in 1946 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by Scott McIntyre Sr. as the United Casualty Company. Initially, it focused on automobile and liability insurance, but it quickly expanded its offerings. By 1950, it was renamed United Fire & Casualty Company to reflect its broader insurance lines, adding surety bonds in 1952 and a life insurance company in 1962. A significant turning point was its first public stock offering in 1971, which fueled national expansion. Despite facing challenges, like its headquarters being flooded in 2008, UFG has shown resilience and grew to surpass $1 billion in revenue by 2015. The company's strategy has evolved from maximizing premium volume to focusing on underwriting profitability by carefully selecting risks and improving operational efficiency.
UFG Insurance, as it's often marketed, is a property and casualty insurance company. This means it provides insurance policies that protect against damage to property (like a building or a car) and liability (legal responsibility for harm caused to others). It primarily serves businesses, offering a range of insurance products designed to cover various risks associated with commercial operations. The company operates across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, working through a network of independent insurance agencies.
This is the largest part of UFG's business, where it provides insurance for businesses. These policies cover a wide array of risks that companies face, such as damage to their buildings or equipment (property insurance), and responsibility for injuries or damages they might cause to others (liability insurance). UFG offers coverage for various industries, including construction, retail, manufacturing, and service-based businesses. They also provide specialized insurance like professional liability, which protects professionals from claims of negligence, and marine specialty coverage for businesses involved with watercraft.
Surety bonds are a type of financial guarantee, not traditional insurance. They are often required for businesses, especially in construction, to ensure they fulfill their contractual obligations. If a business fails to complete a project or pay its suppliers, the surety bond can be used to cover the costs. UFG offers both contract surety bonds, which guarantee the performance of a contract, and commercial surety bonds, which cover various business obligations.
This segment covers insurance needs that are not typically met by standard insurance policies. Specialty lines are for unique or unusual risks, while surplus lines are for risks that exceed the capacity of standard insurers. UFG offers these coverages through wholesale brokers, providing solutions for businesses with complex or hard-to-insure exposures, such as certain types of professional liability or earthquake coverage.
UFG's current strategic plan, "One UFG: Boldly Forward," focuses on merging its strengths with market insights to improve performance. Management is emphasizing thirteen initiatives aimed at enhancing how employees work together to foster growth and adaptation in the evolving insurance industry. The core idea is to create a unified company culture where employees collaborate effectively to achieve success and deliver on promises to policyholders, agents, and shareholders. This strategy prioritizes operational and financial performance to build long-term value.
Price history
Earnings history
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
Is it cheap or expensive?
For a bank or insurer, the "free cash flow" shown on its statements is mostly money flowing through loans, deposits and trades — not the leftover profit the owners could actually keep, which is what this kind of valuation needs. Running that through the usual method would spit out a meaningless number, so we leave the cash-flow fair value out here rather than show you something misleading.
Is it drowning in debt?
Net debt $6.9M. Interest coverage 14.1x.
United Fire Group, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 14.1 times over.
Total debt $146.35M Interest coverage 14.13x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $59.77M Interest coverage 83.80x +493% vs UFCS Carries about 5.9x more debt cushion than UFCS.
Total debt $3.20M Interest coverage 71.63x +407% vs UFCS Carries about 5.1x more debt cushion than UFCS.
Total debt $97.34M Interest coverage 43.54x +208% vs UFCS Carries about 3.1x more debt cushion than UFCS.
Total debt $148.87M Interest coverage 34.45x +144% vs UFCS Carries about 2.4x more debt cushion than UFCS.
Total debt $106.91M Interest coverage 7.32x -48% vs UFCS Carries about 1.9x less debt cushion than UFCS.
What you should know
The numbers
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Valuation
Profitability
Health
Growth
Cash flow
Dividend
Metric explainer
Debt comparison
What you should know