Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Stock Position Reduced by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 511,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,570 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.27% of Unum Group worth $26,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNM. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Unum Group by 7.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Unum Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 20.4% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC boosted its stake in Unum Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 19,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Unum Group from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Unum Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total value of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,507,464.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.4 %

UNM stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $54.24. 1,108,373 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,248,585. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $41.75 and a 52-week high of $58.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.61 and its 200-day moving average is $51.75.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. This is a positive change from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is 24.96%.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.