Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 5,455 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,455 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Unum Group were worth $5,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Unum Group during the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth about $8,816,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth about $105,199,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,552,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $405,481,000 after buying an additional 51,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 168.5% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group set a $89.00 target price on shares of Unum Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Unum Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Unum Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,093,600. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of UNM stock traded up $1.65 on Thursday, reaching $79.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,136,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,330,519. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $79.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.26. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $49.63 and a 1 year high of $84.48. The company has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.19 by ($0.15). Unum Group had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Unum Group's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Unum Group's payout ratio is currently 19.79%.

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.