Brokerages Set Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) PT at $66.09

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.73.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNM shares. Evercore ISI raised Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

Unum Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNM opened at $73.20 on Monday. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.86 and a fifty-two week high of $73.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

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

Insider Activity at Unum Group

In related news, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $104,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $3,727,369.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,601,422.64. This trade represents a 5.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,844 shares of company stock valued at $5,411,032 in the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,130,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Unum Group by 80.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 64,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,436,000 after acquiring an additional 28,580 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Unum Group by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 872,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,609,000 after acquiring an additional 64,661 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $703,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,945,000. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.