Cerity Partners LLC Has $4.26 Million Stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,010 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $4,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 361.5% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Unum Group during the second quarter worth $26,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Unum Group in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.61, for a total transaction of $363,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,602,342.40. This trade represents a 12.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $227,565.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,554,355.24. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 165,709 shares of company stock valued at $10,956,914. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America lifted 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. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.73.

Unum Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $76.90 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.49. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $42.09 and a 12 month high of $77.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

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.