Brokerages Set Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Price Target at $88.50

Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.50.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNM. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Unum Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Unum Group from $75.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Unum Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $579,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,588,751. This trade represents a 18.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 980,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,402,427.63. This represents a 4.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Unum Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,078 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,003,918,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Unum Group by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,816,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $473,814,000 after buying an additional 264,268 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Unum Group by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,930,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,973,000 after buying an additional 480,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake 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 valued at $124,768,000 after buying an additional 227,644 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $80.39 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $78.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.07. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $48.38 and a 52-week high of $84.48. The company has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29.

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

Unum Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.79%.

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.