Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Makes New Investment in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Unum Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,590,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $931,109,000 after acquiring an additional 300,840 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 65.9% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 7.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 93.8% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.64.

Unum Group Price Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $63.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $41.75 and a 52 week high of $64.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.57 and a 200-day moving average of $53.63.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Unum Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan 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 buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,507,464.31. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,464.31. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,601,422.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group 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.