Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Receives $72.09 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.09.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on UNM shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Unum Group Price Performance

UNM stock opened at $72.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.07. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $44.83 and a 52-week high of $77.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.89, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its 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. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.16, for a total transaction of $320,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,768,822.56. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $227,565.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,762 shares in the company, valued at $3,554,355.24. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,914 shares of company stock worth $7,998,745 in the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unum Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNM. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Unum Group by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 36,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Unum Group by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,554,000 after acquiring an additional 156,380 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Unum Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Unum Group by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc grew its stake in Unum Group by 156.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 88,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,274,000 after acquiring an additional 54,095 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.