Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $2,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNM. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Unum Group by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 232,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,835,000 after acquiring an additional 24,664 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,500,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,950,000 after purchasing an additional 55,014 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Unum Group by 50.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,554,000 after purchasing an additional 156,380 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Unum Group by 89.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 111,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,647,000 after purchasing an additional 52,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Unum Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,074,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unum Group Stock Up 1.5 %

UNM opened at $72.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $73.32 and its 200 day moving average is $62.48. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $44.83 and a fifty-two week high of $77.63.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total transaction of $769,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,292.84. This represents a 15.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $104,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,914 shares of company stock valued at $7,998,745 in the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.