Northern Trust Corp Raises Stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) by 33.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,930,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 480,926 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.06% of Unum Group worth $140,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UNM. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Unum Group by 206.2% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $514,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the fourth quarter worth $10,143,000. Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Unum Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 18,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNM. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unum Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Unum Group from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Unum Group from $75.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unum Group news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total value of $4,099,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 980,637 shares of the company's stock, valued at $80,402,427.63. This trade represents a 4.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $579,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,588,751. This trade represents a 18.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Unum Group Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE UNM opened at $79.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.42 and a 200-day moving average of $74.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $48.38 and a 12 month high of $84.48. The company has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.38.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 13.81% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Unum Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.79%.

Unum Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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