Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) by 40.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,472 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 78,784 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.07% of Unum Group worth $9,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,003,918,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Unum Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after buying an additional 1,596,078 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $113,962,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $105,199,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth about $65,096,000. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,093,600. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on 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 lifted their price target on Unum Group from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Unum Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $89.00 price objective on Unum Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.86.

Unum Group Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE UNM traded up $0.81 on Friday, reaching $82.05. 1,250,476 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,331,495. The business's fifty day moving average price is $80.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.41. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $50.03 and a fifty-two week high of $84.48.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 12.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Unum Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.79%.

About Unum Group

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.