Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 373,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,509 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $22,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Unum Group by 89.8% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,207,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,728,000 after buying an additional 571,436 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Unum Group by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,119,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,237,000 after purchasing an additional 432,240 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth $6,640,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Unum Group by 106.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 233,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,915,000 after purchasing an additional 120,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Unum Group by 183.5% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 170,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,694,000 after purchasing an additional 110,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UNM. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $66.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gloria C. Larson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.50, for a total value of $745,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 121,491 shares in the company, valued at $9,051,079.50. This represents a 7.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $3,727,369.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,601,422.64. This represents a 5.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 165,709 shares of company stock worth $10,956,914. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Price Performance

UNM stock opened at $76.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.87 and a 200-day moving average of $57.52. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $42.09 and a 12-month high of $77.63.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Unum Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

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.