Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Stock Price Target Cut by Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its Unum Group price target to $91 from $102 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying about 11.9% upside from the price cited in the report.
• Analyst views remain broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $94.75, with eight Buy and six Hold ratings.
• Unum beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $2.20 versus $2.16 expected and revenue of $3.40 billion versus $2.97 billion. The company also authorized up to $1 billion in share repurchases.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $102.00 to $91.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target suggests a potential upside of 11.93% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Unum Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Unum Group from $108.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Unum Group from $109.00 to $101.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Unum Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.75.

Unum Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNM opened at $81.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $69.02 and a 1 year high of $96.77. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $90.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.11. The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.66, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.25.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Unum Group had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 1.94%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lynn Jr sold 2,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.31, for a total value of $206,350.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,003.74. This represents a 21.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy F. Keaney sold 4,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.02, for a total value of $404,286.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 36,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,431,918.04. This represents a 10.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,488 shares of company stock valued at $988,396. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the third quarter valued at $29,000. CX Institutional increased its stake in Unum Group by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 352 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. City State Bank bought a new stake in Unum Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Unum Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company's stock.

Unum Group Company Profile

Unum Group is an insurance holding company that provides employee benefits and related services, primarily to employers and their workers. Its offerings include group disability and life insurance, accident and critical illness coverage, and services that help employers manage employee leave and workplace absence. Through its Unum and Colonial Life businesses, the company also provides voluntary benefits that employees can elect through their workplaces. In the United Kingdom, Unum offers workplace benefits including income protection, life insurance and critical illness coverage.

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