Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $73.31 and last traded at $73.29, with a volume of 1569 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.73.

Unum Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 7.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28.

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

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Unum Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.16, for a total transaction of $320,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,768,822.56. This trade represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,601,422.64. The trade was a 5.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,844 shares of company stock worth $5,411,032. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 361.5% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Unum Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

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.