Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. Invests $245,000 in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. bought a new position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Unum Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,130,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 80.7% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 64,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,436,000 after purchasing an additional 28,580 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 8.0% in 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 stake in shares of Unum Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $703,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,945,000. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $72.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.76. Unum Group has a twelve month low of $41.97 and a twelve month high of $73.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Unum Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UNM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upgraded Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unum Group news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $3,727,369.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,601,422.64. This represents a 5.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 15.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,844 shares of company stock valued at $5,411,032 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.