Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Makes New Investment in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,003,918,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,496,939,000 after buying an additional 1,596,078 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth about $113,962,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth about $105,199,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter worth about $65,096,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,588,751. The trade was a 18.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total value of $4,099,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 980,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,478,750 in the last three months. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNM has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James upgraded Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Unum Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.29.

Unum Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of UNM opened at $79.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $13.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.38. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $48.38 and a 12-month high of $84.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.19 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.79%.

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.