BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 75.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 116,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,960 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Unum Group were worth $6,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UNM. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Unum Group by 8.0% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 872,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,609,000 after buying an additional 64,661 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in Unum Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $703,000. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in Unum Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,945,000. My Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Unum Group in the second quarter worth about $473,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,007,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.73.

Unum Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $76.35 on Tuesday. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $42.09 and a 1-year high of $77.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, 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, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total transaction of $104,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $3,727,369.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,601,422.64. The trade was a 5.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 175,709 shares of company stock valued at $11,726,114. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.