Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 84,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,021,000.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNM. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 361.5% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Unum Group in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 86.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNM. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Unum Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America raised their target price on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Unum Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.73.
View Our Latest Analysis on UNM
In related news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,601,422.64. This trade represents a 5.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.16, for a total transaction of $320,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,768,822.56. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 165,709 shares of company stock worth $10,956,914 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.
Shares of NYSE:UNM opened at $75.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.76. The company's 50 day moving average is $63.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.66. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $41.97 and a 52 week high of $76.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.
Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. Unum Group's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.
Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Before you consider Unum Group, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Unum Group wasn't on the list.
While Unum Group currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.