3,665 Shares in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Acquired by Ground Swell Capital LLC

Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Unum Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,496,939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,078 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,003,918,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,552,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,481,000 after buying an additional 51,744 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Unum Group by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,930,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,973,000 after buying an additional 480,926 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Unum Group by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,708,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,768,000 after acquiring an additional 227,644 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total transaction of $4,099,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 980,637 shares in the company, valued at $80,402,427.63. The trade was a 4.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,588,751. This trade represents a 18.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of UNM opened at $80.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.38. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $48.38 and a fifty-two week high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.40 and a 200 day moving average of $75.07.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UNM. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $75.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Unum Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

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.