South Dakota Investment Council Buys 87,428 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) by 98.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 176,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 87,428 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.09% of Unum Group worth $7,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,585,614 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $619,086,000 after purchasing an additional 236,136 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 9.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,545,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $174,416,000 after purchasing an additional 313,482 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,856,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $140,530,000 after purchasing an additional 71,561 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 79.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,952,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,616,000 after purchasing an additional 866,531 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 16.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,715,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $84,393,000 after purchasing an additional 236,261 shares during the period. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNM traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $51.97. 919,759 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,404,668. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $40.04 and a 52 week high of $54.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $51.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.63. The company has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.87.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.07). Unum Group had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 16.03%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Unum Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UNM shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Unum Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.38.

Insider Activity

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,772,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Steven Andrew Zabel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total transaction of $510,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 122,246 shares in the company, valued at $6,241,880.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,772,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,018,100. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

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.