Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 64,661 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 872,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,661 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.46% of Unum Group worth $44,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Unum Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $590,489,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Unum Group by 51.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,961,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,590,000 after buying an additional 1,008,776 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Unum Group by 6,498.1% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 636,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,145,000 after buying an additional 626,676 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Unum Group by 85.0% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 778,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,754,000 after buying an additional 357,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Unum Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,590,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $931,109,000 after buying an additional 300,840 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNM traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,023,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,594. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a one year low of $41.75 and a one year high of $58.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. This is an increase from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Unum Group’s payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on UNM. Citigroup lifted their target price on Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.78.

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.