Unum Group to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 (NYSE:UNM)

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 12th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of 0.365 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%.

Unum Group has increased its dividend by an average of 6.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Unum Group has a dividend payout ratio of 16.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Unum Group to earn $8.78 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.46 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.6%.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of UNM opened at $50.31 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $50.72 and its 200-day moving average is $47.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 7.75, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.87. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $39.40 and a fifty-two week high of $54.57.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.07). Unum Group had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 16.03%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,772,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,840 shares in the company, valued at $2,042,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,772,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,018,100 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the 4th quarter worth about $611,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Unum Group by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 100,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,318 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $656,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.50.

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.