Eastern Bank Invests $226,000 in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Unum Group by 51.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,961,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,776 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 89.8% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,207,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,728,000 after purchasing an additional 571,436 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,119,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,237,000 after purchasing an additional 432,240 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 872,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,609,000 after purchasing an additional 64,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 413,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,127,000 after purchasing an additional 35,723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total value of $541,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,464.31. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Unum Group news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total value of $541,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,464.31. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $3,727,369.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,065,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,601,422.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Unum Group Stock Down 0.1 %

UNM stock opened at $63.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.77. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $41.75 and a 12 month high of $64.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. Unum Group had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.06 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 10% 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Unum Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.64.

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.