Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 135,625 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its holdings in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 22.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 461,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 135,625 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.26% of Unum Group worth $37,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNM. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,816,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at $105,199,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 0.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 51,744 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Unum Group in the 4th quarter worth $341,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNM. Raymond James raised 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Unum Group from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Unum Group from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $800,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,093,600. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Unum Group Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $81.63 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $48.38 and a 12 month high of $84.48.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.79%.

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

Unum Group Profile

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.