Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Shares Sold by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management lowered its holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 682 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $1,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the first quarter valued at $1,130,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 80.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 64,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,436,000 after acquiring an additional 28,580 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 8.0% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 872,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,609,000 after acquiring an additional 64,661 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 51.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,961,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group in the first quarter worth $703,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Stock Up 1.8 %

UNM stock opened at $62.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $41.75 and a 52-week high of $63.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 24.71%.

Unum Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNM shares. UBS Group raised shares of Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Unum Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Unum Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.64.

Insider Activity at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $3,727,369.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,601,422.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $3,727,369.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,601,422.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,464.31. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.