Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) to Repurchase $1.00 billion in Stock

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Unum Group from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNM opened at $73.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.81, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29. Unum Group has a one year low of $48.38 and a one year high of $79.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.35.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.11). Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 9.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 17.74%.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In related news, Director Gloria C. Larson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.50, for a total transaction of $745,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 121,491 shares in the company, valued at $9,051,079.50. The trade was a 7.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 58,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.39, for a total value of $4,437,832.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,007,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,917,956.17. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 78,865 shares of company stock worth $5,952,032. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.