Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 1,476 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,476 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNM. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,585,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $619,086,000 after purchasing an additional 236,136 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its stake in Unum Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,687,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,734,000 after buying an additional 163,682 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Unum Group by 9.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,545,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,416,000 after acquiring an additional 313,482 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Unum Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,930,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,521,000 after acquiring an additional 73,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 79.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,952,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,616,000 after acquiring an additional 866,531 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.38.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of UNM stock opened at $52.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.87. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $41.75 and a 12-month high of $54.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.23 and a 200-day moving average of $48.16.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.15. Unum Group had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 10.52%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is 21.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.47, for a total transaction of $236,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,952,067.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.47, for a total transaction of $236,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,952,067.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy F. Keaney sold 8,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.61, for a total transaction of $420,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 37,505 shares in the company, valued at $1,973,138.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,500 shares of company stock worth $4,675,095 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Company 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 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.