Sage Rhino Capital LLC Sells 131 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Sage Rhino Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Unum Group by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 108,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,855,000 after acquiring an additional 30,881 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 226,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,462,000 after acquiring an additional 43,773 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE UNM opened at $81.29 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.83. Unum Group has a one year low of $48.38 and a one year high of $83.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.11). Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. Research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI upgraded Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Unum Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.83.

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.