Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Board of Directors Approves Share Buyback Program

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 26th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Unum Group from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $106.00 target price on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Unum Group from $110.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Unum Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.42.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of UNM stock opened at $93.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.26. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $68.70 and a 1-year high of $94.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.40 and a 200 day moving average of $82.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.16. Unum Group had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 5.26%.The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. Unum Group’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Unum Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.600-8.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th were issued a $0.505 dividend. This is a positive change from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 24th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.09%.

About Unum Group

Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) is a leading provider of employee benefits in the United States and selected international markets, specializing in disability, life, accident and critical illness insurance. Through both fully insured and self-funded arrangements, the company offers group coverage designed to protect income and mitigate financial hardship for employees and their families. Its portfolio includes short-term and long-term disability plans, group life and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) policies, as well as critical illness and hospital indemnity products.

In addition to its core product lines, Unum Group markets voluntary benefits under its Colonial Life brand, allowing employees to purchase supplemental insurance such as accident, cancer, and dental coverage directly through payroll deductions.