United Fire Group upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler analyst Paul Newsome upgraded United Fire Group (UFCS) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $45, up from $41, following the Q1 report. The company is “firmly in a state of solid underwriting” with its book rewritten to manage catastrophe losses that were once a much higher level, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Piper now thinks United Fire should be valued in-line with its commercial and specialty peers rather than at a discount.