Foster & Motley Inc. Grows Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 116,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Unum Group worth $5,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Unum Group by 7.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Unum Group by 1.8% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 20.4% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Unum Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 19,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,507,464.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of UNM traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $54.83. 51,584 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,228,503. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.40 and a 200-day moving average of $52.17. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $41.75 and a 52 week high of $58.17. The stock has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.19, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This is an increase from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 24.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Unum Group from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.90.

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.