Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 58,740 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 34.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 58,740 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 0.06% of Unum Group worth $8,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Unum Group by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Unum Group during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 4,794.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Unum Group by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James upgraded Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.86.

Unum Group Trading Down 10.2 %

Unum Group stock opened at $71.14 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $12.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.19 and a 200-day moving average of $72.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a one year low of $48.38 and a one year high of $84.48.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.11). Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. On average, equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.74%.

Unum Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,751. The trade was a 18.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $80,402,427.63. This represents a 4.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.