Family Firm Inc. Buys New Shares in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Unum Group by 361.5% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total value of $541,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,507,464.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.4 %

UNM traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $54.24. 1,108,373 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,248,585. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $52.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.75 and a fifty-two week high of $58.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. Unum Group had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 24.96%.

Unum Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign 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.