Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) to Issue $0.42 Quarterly Dividend

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 9th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%.

Unum Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Unum Group has a dividend payout ratio of 16.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Unum Group to earn $9.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.6%.

Unum Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of UNM opened at $72.96 on Friday. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $44.83 and a 52 week high of $77.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.80. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. Unum Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNM shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total transaction of $769,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,292.84. This represents a 15.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $104,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,591.16. This trade represents a 15.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,914 shares of company stock valued at $7,998,745 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% 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.