Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 72.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 226,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,639 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Unum Group worth $10,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNM. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in Unum Group by 583.3% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,025,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,420,000 after buying an additional 875,000 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Unum Group by 79.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,952,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,616,000 after purchasing an additional 866,531 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Unum Group by 2,441.3% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 540,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,567,000 after purchasing an additional 518,830 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 9.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,545,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,416,000 after purchasing an additional 313,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the third quarter worth about $13,061,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on UNM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Unum Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Unum Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.38.

Unum Group Price Performance

UNM opened at $51.62 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.55 and a 200-day moving average of $47.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $41.75 and a 1-year high of $54.57.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.15. Unum Group had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 10.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Unum Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,772,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Steven Andrew Zabel sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $510,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 122,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,241,880.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,772,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,018,100 over the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.