Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Purchases 838 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 28.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 838 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,003,918,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Unum Group by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,496,939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,078 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,962,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,199,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Unum Group during the fourth quarter worth $65,096,000. 86.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unum Group Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of UNM opened at $79.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $51.80 and a 1 year high of $84.48.

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

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a positive change from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,093,600. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Unum Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays set a $96.00 price objective on Unum Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group set a $89.00 target price on shares of Unum Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Unum Group Company Profile

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.