Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Stock Price

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $74.00 to $81.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on UNM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upgraded Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.45.

Unum Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Unum Group stock opened at $72.98 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $44.83 and a 12 month high of $77.63. 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.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Unum Group’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Insider Activity at Unum Group

In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 58,865 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.39, for a total transaction of $4,437,832.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,007,003 shares in the company, valued at $75,917,956.17. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $227,565.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. 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 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 11.9% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 232,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,835,000 after purchasing an additional 24,664 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $326,950,000 after buying an additional 55,014 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,554,000 after buying an additional 156,380 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 111,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,647,000 after buying an additional 52,813 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,074,000. 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.