New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 41,369 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.09% of Unum Group worth $7,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 583.3% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,025,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,420,000 after purchasing an additional 875,000 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Unum Group by 79.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,952,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,616,000 after purchasing an additional 866,531 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Unum Group by 2,441.3% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 540,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,567,000 after purchasing an additional 518,830 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,545,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,416,000 after purchasing an additional 313,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $13,061,000. 86.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Unum Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Unum Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.38.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $51.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.72. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $41.75 and a 52-week high of $54.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.87.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.15. Unum Group had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. Unum Group’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $0.365 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unum Group news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.15, for a total value of $2,457,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,076,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,922,409.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Steven Andrew Zabel sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total transaction of $510,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 122,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,241,880.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.15, for a total value of $2,457,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,076,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,922,409.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,018,100 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group 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.