AXQ Capital LP Acquires Shares of 7,261 Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 61,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,932,000 after buying an additional 2,370 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 15,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 3,799 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $348,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 76,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 29,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Unum Group

In other news, COO Michael Q. Simonds sold 18,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.72, for a total transaction of $786,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 222,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,709,687.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 5,579 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.82, for a total transaction of $250,050.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,244,764.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Q. Simonds sold 18,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.72, for a total transaction of $786,960.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 222,088 shares in the company, valued at $9,709,687.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 55,960 shares of company stock valued at $2,515,118. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Price Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $45.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.53. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $31.11 and a 12-month high of $46.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 14.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 7.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on UNM shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, March 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $41.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Unum Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

About Unum Group

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Unum Group engages in the provision of financial protection benefits. Its services include disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, vision, and other related services. It operates through the following segments: Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, Closed Block, and Corporate. The Unum US segment focuses on group disability, group life and accidental death and dismemberment products, and supplemental and voluntary lines of business.