Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Board of Directors Initiates Share Repurchase Plan

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Unum Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.17.

Unum Group Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:UNM opened at $74.99 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a one year low of $48.38 and a one year high of $79.43. The company has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.80.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total value of $769,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 54,827 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,292.84. The trade was a 15.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.