Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Reaches New 12-Month High at $46.99

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $46.99 and last traded at $46.63, with a volume of 181925 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $46.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNM shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $41.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Unum Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Unum Group Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 6.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.22. Unum Group had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 14.67%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 27th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.70%.

Insider Activity at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.71, for a total transaction of $125,188.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,290.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Unum Group news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 14,972 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 2,800 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.71, for a total transaction of $125,188.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,290.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,351 shares of company stock valued at $1,836,238 in the last three months. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 626,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,776,000 after buying an additional 95,426 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Unum Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $100,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Unum Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 341,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,528,000 after buying an additional 4,429 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Unum Group during the first quarter worth about $11,868,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Unum Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 86,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.64% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Company Profile

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Unum Group engages in the provision of financial protection benefits. Its services include disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, vision, and other related services. It operates through the following segments: Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, Closed Block, and Corporate. The Unum US segment focuses on group disability, group life and accidental death and dismemberment products, and supplemental and voluntary lines of business.