Jones Financial Companies Lllp Grows Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 124.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,264,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,383,000 after buying an additional 392,191 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Unum Group by 151.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 509,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,297,000 after purchasing an additional 307,175 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,456,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Unum Group by 50.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,554,000 after purchasing an additional 156,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Unum Group by 69.5% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 236,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,044,000 after purchasing an additional 96,916 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total value of $4,099,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 980,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. This trade represents a 4.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,588,751. This trade represents a 18.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Price Performance

UNM stock opened at $78.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.74. Unum Group has a twelve month low of $48.38 and a twelve month high of $83.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.11). Unum Group had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased 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 note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.62.

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.