Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Price Target to $102.00

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) had its target price decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $103.00 to $102.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on UNM. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Unum Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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, Unum Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.36.

Unum Group Stock Performance

UNM opened at $75.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $77.81 and its 200-day moving average is $72.73. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $48.38 and a 52-week high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.11). Unum Group had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 14.91%. Sell-side analysts expect that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 17.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total value of $4,099,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 980,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. The trade was a 4.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,751. This represents a 18.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Unum Group by 50.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,554,000 after purchasing an additional 156,380 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 16,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,047 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,074,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter valued at $8,816,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Unum Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,552,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,481,000 after acquiring an additional 51,744 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.