Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $88.50.

Several research firms recently commented on UNM. StockNews.com cut Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James raised Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $75.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,751. This trade represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total value of $4,099,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 980,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,402,427.63. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,003,918,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Unum Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after buying an additional 1,596,078 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth about $113,962,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth about $105,199,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth about $65,096,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE UNM opened at $80.39 on Monday. Unum Group has a one year low of $48.38 and a one year high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.23. The company has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.38.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.19 by ($0.15). Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.79%.

Unum Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.