SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 1,631 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 19.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,631 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Unum Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after buying an additional 1,596,078 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,003,918,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Unum Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,552,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,481,000 after purchasing an additional 51,744 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Unum Group by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,930,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,973,000 after purchasing an additional 480,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Unum Group by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,708,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,768,000 after purchasing an additional 227,644 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UNM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Unum Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group set a $89.00 price target on shares of Unum Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,093,600. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $78.31 on Friday. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $49.16 and a 12-month high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.13.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 12.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.79%.

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.