United Services Automobile Association Cuts Stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

United Services Automobile Association decreased its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 463 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,596,078 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 297,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,707,000 after acquiring an additional 14,890 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth $4,542,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 397,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,015,000 after purchasing an additional 29,148 shares during the period. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James raised 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Unum Group from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.62.

Unum Group Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of UNM stock opened at $83.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $77.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.66. Unum Group has a twelve month low of $48.38 and a twelve month high of $83.96.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted 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 net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 14.91%. Research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.74%.

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

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In related news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total value of $4,099,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 980,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. This trade represents a 4.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,588,751. The trade was a 18.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Company 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.