Richard P. Mckenney Sells 50,000 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Stock

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 980,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. This trade represents a 4.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Unum Group Stock Up 4.4 %

NYSE:UNM opened at $81.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $75.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.18. The company has a market capitalization of $14.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.80. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $48.38 and a 1-year high of $83.96.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. On average, equities analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unum Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Unum Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,500,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,950,000 after purchasing an additional 55,014 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 50.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,554,000 after buying an additional 156,380 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 16,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 5,047 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 89.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 111,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,647,000 after buying an additional 52,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNM. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James raised Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.62.

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.