New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Unum Group by 7.1%, now owning 95,799 shares valued at approximately $7.8 million.
• Unum Group announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.46 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.6%, to be paid on August 15.
• The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the latest quarter, below analyst expectations of $2.23, despite revenue of $3.36 billion.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,344 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Unum Group worth $7,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Unum Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 18,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,330,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,757 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 9,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unum Group Price Performance

NYSE UNM traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $69.40. 1,637,427 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,714,613. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.30. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $52.65 and a 1 year high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.40.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.16). Unum Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 13.44%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Unum Group's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Unum Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Unum Group's payout ratio is 22.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $87.00 price target on shares of Unum Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.62.

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.