Global Retirement Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 2.2% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 10,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 20.4% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 19,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 24.1% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $63.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Unum Group has a twelve month low of $41.75 and a twelve month high of $64.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.91. The company has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.77.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 24.71%.

Unum Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,464.31. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Unum Group news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,464.31. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $3,727,369.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,065,868 shares in the company, valued at $58,601,422.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.