Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 57,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,166,000.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Unum Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Unum Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth $218,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,868 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC bought a new position in Unum Group during the fourth quarter worth $216,000. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,751. This trade represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total transaction of $4,099,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 980,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,000 shares of company stock worth $5,478,750 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
UNM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group set a $89.00 target price on Unum Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Raymond James upgraded Unum Group from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Unum Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.29.
View Our Latest Analysis on UNM
Unum Group Price Performance
Shares of UNM stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,073,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,317,785. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $48.38 and a 12 month high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm's fifty day moving average is $78.61 and its 200 day moving average is $76.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.38.
Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by ($0.15). Unum Group had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
Unum Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Unum Group's payout ratio is 19.79%.
About Unum Group
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Free Report)
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.
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