Barclays Increases Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Price Target to $46.00

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) had its target price increased by Barclays from $41.00 to $46.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, The Fly reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on UNM. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Unum Group in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Unum Group from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Citigroup upgraded Unum Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $53.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Unum Group from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $47.00.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $44.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Unum Group has a one year low of $31.11 and a one year high of $46.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.06.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 14.67%. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. Analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 14,972 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $674,039.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,851,251.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Gloria C. Larson bought 3,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.78 per share, with a total value of $130,080.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 119,846 shares in the company, valued at $4,767,473.88. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 14,972 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $674,039.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,851,251.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Unum Group in the 4th quarter worth $426,463,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 990.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,304,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,937 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Unum Group by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,504,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,752,000 after purchasing an additional 973,311 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Unum Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,681,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $746,204,000 after buying an additional 836,407 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 412.3% during the third quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 845,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,795,000 after acquiring an additional 680,241 shares during the period. 79.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unum Group Company Profile

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Unum Group engages in the provision of financial protection benefits. Its services include disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, vision, and other related services. It operates through the following segments: Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, Closed Block, and Corporate. The Unum US segment focuses on group disability, group life and accidental death and dismemberment products, and supplemental and voluntary lines of business.