Wintrust Investments LLC Takes Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $426,463,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Unum Group by 990.0% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,304,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,937 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Unum Group by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,481,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,167,000 after acquiring an additional 977,334 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Unum Group in the 1st quarter valued at $34,014,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Unum Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,681,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $746,204,000 after acquiring an additional 836,407 shares during the period. 79.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unum Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of UNM opened at $42.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.07. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $36.27 and a 12-month high of $52.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 27th were paid a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 26th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.59%.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 31st that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Unum Group from $59.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

Unum Group Profile

Unum Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial protection benefit solutions primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, and internationally. It operates through Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, and Closed Block and Corporate segments. The company offers group long-term and short-term disability, group life, and accidental death and dismemberment products; supplemental and voluntary products, such as individual disability, voluntary benefits, and dental and vision products; and accident, sickness, disability, life, and cancer and critical illness products.