Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 44.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,047 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $1,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,500,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,950,000 after purchasing an additional 55,014 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,186,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,511,000 after purchasing an additional 66,392 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 151.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 509,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,297,000 after purchasing an additional 307,175 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,554,000 after purchasing an additional 156,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 325,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,365,000 after purchasing an additional 64,062 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $227,565.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,762 shares in the company, valued at $3,554,355.24. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total transaction of $104,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares in the company, valued at $581,591.16. This trade represents a 15.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,914 shares of company stock valued at $7,998,745 in the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.75.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $75.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.81. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $46.39 and a 52-week high of $77.63.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

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.