Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $108.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.62.

Unum Group Price Performance

NYSE UNM opened at $79.05 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.35. The company has a market cap of $14.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.80. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $48.38 and a 1 year high of $83.96.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given 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 (DPR) is 17.74%.

Insider Activity at Unum Group

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unum Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,003,918,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unum Group by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,078 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth $113,962,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth $105,199,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,096,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.