Fmr LLC Cuts Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Fmr LLC lessened its stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,970,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,294,826 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned about 0.07% of Unum Group worth $770,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNM. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Unum Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Unum Group by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 10,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Unum Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 12,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Unum Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 8,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $66.00 price objective (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.73.

Unum Group Price Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $77.07 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.18. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $41.97 and a 12 month high of $77.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.07 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.76.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $3,727,369.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,601,422.64. This represents a 5.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total transaction of $104,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 165,709 shares of company stock valued at $10,956,914. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.