IFG Advisory LLC Cuts Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

IFG Advisory LLC lessened its stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 788 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Unum Group worth $5,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,590,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $931,109,000 after acquiring an additional 300,840 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Unum Group during the 4th quarter valued at $590,489,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Unum Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,930,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,521,000 after buying an additional 73,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,017,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,225,000 after buying an additional 291,757 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,507,464.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNM shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.78.

Unum Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $55.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $53.13 and a 200 day moving average of $52.03. The firm has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $41.75 and a 1 year high of $58.17.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 15.55%. Unum Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. This is a positive change from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Unum Group 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.