Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Stake in Unum Group $UNM

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has reduced its position in Unum Group by 13.5%, selling 666,387 shares and now holds approximately 2.46% of the company.
• Unum Group also recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.42 to $0.46 per share, reflecting a positive change with an annualized yield of 2.7%.
• Analyst ratings for Unum Group show a mixture of opinions, with a range of price targets from $87.00 to $100.00 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,287,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 666,387 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.46% of Unum Group worth $349,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Unum Group by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,816,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $473,814,000 after acquiring an additional 264,268 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Unum Group by 155.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,278,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $185,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,139 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Unum Group by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,930,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $140,973,000 after buying an additional 480,926 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Unum Group by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,708,452 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $124,768,000 after buying an additional 227,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Unum Group by 13.1% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,654,489 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $134,775,000 after acquiring an additional 191,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $87.00 target price on Unum Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Unum Group from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Unum Group from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.15.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE UNM traded up $0.07 on Thursday, reaching $69.52. The company had a trading volume of 261,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,425,314. The firm has a market cap of $11.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.40. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $52.71 and a fifty-two week high of $84.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 11.77%.Unum Group's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. Unum Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.500-8.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. This is an increase from Unum Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Unum Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.01%.

Unum Group 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.