Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $84.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $67.00.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on UNM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $66.00 price objective (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group raised Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Unum Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.73.

Unum Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of UNM stock traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $73.04. The company had a trading volume of 692,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,024. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.20 and a 200 day moving average of $55.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.76. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $41.86 and a 1-year high of $73.21.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total transaction of $104,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,361 shares in the company, valued at $581,591.16. This trade represents a 15.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,545 shares of company stock worth $4,380,074 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNM. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 89.8% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,207,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,728,000 after buying an additional 571,436 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 62.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,119,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,237,000 after buying an additional 432,240 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 151.7% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 509,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,297,000 after buying an additional 307,175 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the first quarter worth $8,988,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the second quarter worth $6,640,000. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

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.