UBS Group AG Decreases Stock Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

UBS Group AG decreased its holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 380,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,112 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.19% of Unum Group worth $15,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its position 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,745,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,325,000 after purchasing an additional 113,199 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,106,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,749,000 after purchasing an additional 166,022 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,293,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,279,000 after purchasing an additional 288,209 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,667,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,535,000 after purchasing an additional 415,756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Unum Group in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $41.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Citigroup upgraded Unum Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Unum Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 14,972 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,851,251.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 5,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.82, for a total value of $250,050.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,084 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,764.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 14,972 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total value of $674,039.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 63,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,851,251.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,351 shares of company stock worth $1,836,238. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Unum Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of UNM opened at $46.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.06. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $46.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.48.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.67% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.70%.

Unum Group 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.