Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 4,794.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,588,751. This trade represents a 18.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $4,099,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 980,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. This trade represents a 4.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $81.54 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.74. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $48.38 and a fifty-two week high of $83.96.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its 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, equities research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.74%.

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.

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.