Moore Capital Management LP Purchases 357,618 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Moore Capital Management LP increased its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) by 27.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,657,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 357,618 shares during the period. Unum Group makes up 1.5% of Moore Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Moore Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.83% of Unum Group worth $64,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of UNM. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 229.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc. grew its position in Unum Group by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in Unum Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.64% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $44.00 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.39. The company has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $27.00 and a fifty-two week high of $46.64.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 10.96%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Unum Group will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 27th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 26th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.28%.

Unum Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 1st that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $42.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 14,972 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $674,039.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,333 shares in the company, valued at $2,851,251.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Unum Group

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Unum Group is engaged in providing financial protection benefits. It operates through the following segments: Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, Closed Block and Corporate. The Unum US segment consists of group long-term and short-term disability insurance, group life and accidental death and dismemberment products, and supplemental and voluntary lines of business.