Polianta Ltd Purchases Shares of 17,000 Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 17,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,241,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Unum Group by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $328,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 69,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,059,000 after purchasing an additional 11,373 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Unum Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 34,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in Unum Group by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Unum Group from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.45.

Unum Group Stock Performance

UNM stock opened at $75.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $45.23 and a 1 year high of $77.63. The company has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.89.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total transaction of $769,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 54,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,292.84. The trade was a 15.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $104,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,591.16. The trade was a 15.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 107,914 shares of company stock worth $7,998,745. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.