Redwood Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Redwood Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,915 shares during the quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC's holdings in Unum Group were worth $1,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth about $251,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 34,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 69,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,059,000 after buying an additional 11,373 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $328,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 980,637 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $800,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,093,600. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,000 shares of company stock worth $5,478,750 over the last three months. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Unum Group Stock Performance

UNM stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $80.05. 244,419 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,312,292. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $48.38 and a 1-year high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $78.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.06. The firm has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.38.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.19 by ($0.15). Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Unum Group's payout ratio is currently 19.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised Unum Group from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Unum Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Unum Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $75.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.43.

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.