Unum Group $UNM Shares Sold by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming lessened its stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 78.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,418 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the second quarter valued at $708,000. Amundi grew its holdings in Unum Group by 1,140.5% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 340,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,436,000 after purchasing an additional 312,999 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $84,097,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,482,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP increased its stake in Unum Group by 266.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 27,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 20,300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Stock Down 0.2%

UNM stock opened at $76.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.05. The company has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.31, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.25. Unum Group has a twelve month low of $69.02 and a twelve month high of $96.77.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Unum Group had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 26th that permits the company to buy back $1 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $0.5050 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is 143.26%.

Key Stories Impacting Unum Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Unum Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Despite lowering their targets, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods kept an “outperform” rating at $97 and Truist Financial maintained a “buy” rating at $85. Both targets are above the $76.58 price cited in the coverage. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods target Truist target
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings-call recap highlighted growth opportunities alongside risks, while a sector outlook identified potential support for accident and health insurers from underwriting exposure and digitalization, counterbalanced by medical-cost inflation and pricing pressure. Earnings call highlights Sector outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Unum’s Q3 report included a $419.7 million net loss, an SEC comment-letter process and a change in reserve methodology. Levi & Korsinsky and SueWallSt separately announced investigations into potential securities claims; these are allegations and investigations, not findings of wrongdoing. Levi & Korsinsky investigation notice SueWallSt investigation notice
• Negative Sentiment: KBW cut its price target from $108 to $97, and Truist reduced its target from $96 to $85. Coverage also reported that UNM shares fell below their 200-day moving average after an analyst downgrade—a technical signal that may weigh on sentiment. Moving-average and downgrade report

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa Iglesias sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.44, for a total transaction of $377,760.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,781.32. This trade represents a 13.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lynn Jr sold 2,188 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.31, for a total transaction of $206,350.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,154 shares in the company, valued at $769,003.74. The trade was a 21.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,488 shares of company stock worth $988,396. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Monday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Unum Group from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Unum Group from $109.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Unum Group from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.92.

About Unum Group

Unum Group is an insurance holding company that provides employee benefits and related services, primarily to employers and their workers. Its offerings include group disability and life insurance, accident and critical illness coverage, and services that help employers manage employee leave and workplace absence.

Through its Unum and Colonial Life businesses, the company also provides voluntary benefits that employees can elect through their workplaces. In the United Kingdom, Unum offers workplace benefits including income protection, life insurance and critical illness coverage.

The company traces its roots to 1848, when Union Mutual was established in Maine.