Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 2,105 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,105 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Unum Group were worth $2,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth $251,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 34,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Unum Group by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 69,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,059,000 after purchasing an additional 11,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth $328,000. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $800,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,093,600. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $579,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,751. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,000 shares of company stock worth $5,478,750 in the last three months. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Unum Group Stock Up 1.6%

Unum Group stock opened at $82.07 on Friday. Unum Group has a twelve month low of $48.38 and a twelve month high of $84.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.78. The company has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.19 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.79%.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.