Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) CEO Richard P. Mckenney Sells 58,865 Shares

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 58,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.39, for a total value of $4,437,832.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,007,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,917,956.17. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Unum Group stock opened at $75.83 on Friday. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $41.97 and a 52 week high of $76.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.76.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unum Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,130,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 80.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 64,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,436,000 after purchasing an additional 28,580 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted 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 period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 1st quarter valued at $703,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,945,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.73.

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.