JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Price Target to $65.00

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $64.00 to $65.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on UNM. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Unum Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an overweight rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $61.44.

Unum Group Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE:UNM opened at $53.90 on Wednesday. Unum Group has a one year low of $41.75 and a one year high of $58.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.98 and a 200-day moving average of $51.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.06 EPS. Unum Group’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Unum Group’s payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 4,500 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.47, for a total value of $236,115.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,952,067.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Timothy F. Keaney sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.61, for a total value of $420,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 37,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,973,138.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.47, for a total transaction of $236,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,952,067.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth $590,489,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Unum Group by 51.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,961,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,590,000 after buying an additional 1,008,776 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 6,498.1% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 636,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,145,000 after buying an additional 626,676 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 85.0% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 778,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,754,000 after buying an additional 357,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 300,840 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.57% 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.