Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UNM. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $672,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,838 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Unum Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Unum Group from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Five investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Unum Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.29.

Insider Activity at Unum Group

In related news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 51,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,093,600. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Unum Group Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $79.20 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $79.38 and its 200-day moving average is $77.15. The stock has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.43. Unum Group has a twelve month low of $49.63 and a twelve month high of $84.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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). The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 12.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Unum Group's dividend 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.

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