Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 75,932 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75,932 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $1,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNM. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the third quarter worth $453,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Unum Group during the 3rd quarter worth $2,584,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Unum Group by 122.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 181,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,049,000 after purchasing an additional 99,806 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP raised its position in Unum Group by 123.9% in the third quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 22,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 12,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp Et Al bought a new position in Unum Group in the third quarter valued at about $1,841,000. 79.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In related news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 14,972 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total value of $674,039.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,851,251.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Unum Group from $42.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Unum Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.88.

Unum Group Stock Down 9.2 %

Shares of NYSE:UNM opened at $36.64 on Tuesday. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $27.36 and a 1 year high of $46.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.09 and its 200-day moving average is $41.42. The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Unum Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 1st that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 27th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 26th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.28%.

Unum Group Company Profile

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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.