Ibex Wealth Advisors Acquires 1,345 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Ibex Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 131,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the quarter. Unum Group makes up approximately 1.4% of Ibex Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Ibex Wealth Advisors owned approximately 0.07% of Unum Group worth $10,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Unum Group by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,497,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,078 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Unum Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,003,918,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Unum Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,552,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,481,000 after purchasing an additional 51,744 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Unum Group by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,930,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,973,000 after purchasing an additional 480,926 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Unum Group by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,708,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,768,000 after purchasing an additional 227,644 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $89.00 price target on shares of Unum Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Unum Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.29.

Unum Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $80.43 on Tuesday. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $48.38 and a 52-week high of $84.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29.

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

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 given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.79%.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,093,600. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.