Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Plans $0.42 Quarterly Dividend

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 9th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%.

Unum Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Unum Group has a dividend payout ratio of 16.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Unum Group to earn $9.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.6%.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of Unum Group stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $72.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,197,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,131,675. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $44.83 and a 12-month high of $77.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised shares of Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.55.

Insider Activity

In other Unum Group news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total value of $769,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,292.84. This represents a 15.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $104,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,914 shares of company stock worth $7,998,745 over the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.