Unum Group (UNM) Competitors

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) and Aflac (NYSE:AFL) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, media sentiment, risk, community ranking and dividends.

Do analysts rate UNM or AFL?

Unum Group currently has a consensus target price of $88.29, indicating a potential upside of 9.76%. Aflac has a consensus target price of $104.93, indicating a potential upside of 2.40%. Given Unum Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Unum Group is more favorable than Aflac.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unum Group	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.79
Aflac	2 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.07

Which has more volatility & risk, UNM or AFL?

Unum Group has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aflac has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is UNM or AFL more profitable?

Aflac has a net margin of 28.76% compared to Unum Group's net margin of 13.81%. Aflac's return on equity of 16.20% beat Unum Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unum Group	13.81%	14.91%	2.53%
Aflac	28.76%	16.20%	3.32%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer UNM or AFL?

Aflac received 169 more outperform votes than Unum Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 55.61% of users gave Aflac an outperform vote while only 47.74% of users gave Unum Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Unum Group	Outperform Votes 411 47.74%	Underperform Votes 450 52.26%
Aflac	Outperform Votes 580 55.61%	Underperform Votes 463 44.39%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, UNM or AFL?

Aflac has higher revenue and earnings than Unum Group. Unum Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aflac, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Unum Group	$12.84B	1.09	$1.78B	$8.49	9.47
Aflac	$17.14B	3.23	$5.44B	$6.40	16.01

Does the media favor UNM or AFL?

In the previous week, Unum Group and Unum Group both had 12 articles in the media. Unum Group's average media sentiment score of 1.73 beat Aflac's score of 1.45 indicating that Unum Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Unum Group	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Aflac	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in UNM or AFL?

86.6% of Unum Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of Aflac shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Unum Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Aflac shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is UNM or AFL a better dividend stock?

Unum Group pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac pays an annual dividend of $2.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Unum Group pays out 19.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aflac pays out 36.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Unum Group has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Aflac has raised its dividend for 44 consecutive years. Aflac is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Aflac beats Unum Group on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.