Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.38.

UNM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.3 %

UNM opened at $51.97 on Thursday. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $40.04 and a 1-year high of $54.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.63.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.07). Unum Group had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 16.03%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 22.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,772,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Steven Andrew Zabel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total transaction of $510,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 122,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,241,880.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,772,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,018,100. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNM. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 679.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after buying an additional 28,154 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 15,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Unum Group

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 segment. 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.