Prana Capital Management LP Cuts Stock Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Prana Capital Management LP lowered its holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 36.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 208,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 121,525 shares during the quarter. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $12,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNM. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Unum Group by 361.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 86.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $66.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.73.

Unum Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of UNM opened at $76.04 on Wednesday. Unum Group has a twelve month low of $42.09 and a twelve month high of $77.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.88.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during 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%. Unum Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.53 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, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $58,601,422.64. This trade represents a 5.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total transaction of $769,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,292.84. This trade represents a 15.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 175,709 shares of company stock worth $11,726,114. 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.