Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $2.06 Million Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 38,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $2,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Unum Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,590,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $931,109,000 after acquiring an additional 300,840 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth $590,489,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unum Group by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,687,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,734,000 after purchasing an additional 163,682 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,545,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,416,000 after acquiring an additional 313,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Unum Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,930,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,521,000 after acquiring an additional 73,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Unum Group

In related news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.47, for a total value of $236,115.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,952,067.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 on 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 directly owns 56,262 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,067.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy F. Keaney sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.61, for a total value of $420,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,973,138.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Unum Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Unum Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Unum Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.89.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.1 %

UNM stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $51.14. The company had a trading volume of 80,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,261,539. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $41.75 and a 52 week high of $54.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.75. The stock has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 10.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.69%.

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.