Blair William & Co. IL Invests $210,000 in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Blair William & Co. IL bought a new position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Unum Group by 361.5% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Unum Group during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.80.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,464.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of UNM opened at $58.65 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $54.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.91. The company has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.77. 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 $59.01.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. Research analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 repurchase 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 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.