Newport Capital Group LLC Acquires Shares of 8,788 Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Newport Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 361.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unum Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Unum Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on UNM shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Unum Group from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Unum Group from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Unum Group in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.80.

Unum Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNM opened at $58.65 on Monday. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $41.75 and a 52 week high of $59.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.93. The firm has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.77.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is 24.96%.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In related news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $3,727,369.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,601,422.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Unum Group news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $3,727,369.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares in the company, valued at $58,601,422.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total value of $541,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,507,464.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Unum Group

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.