Coombe Bender & Co LLC Cuts Stock Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Coombe Bender & Co LLC lessened its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Coombe Bender & Co LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Unum Group by 79.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,952,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,616,000 after purchasing an additional 866,531 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 222,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,963,000 after purchasing an additional 28,898 shares during the period. Boone Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Boone Capital Management LLC now owns 867,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,676,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Unum Group by 91.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 63,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,138,000 after purchasing an additional 30,555 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Unum Group by 154.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 30,908 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,772,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Steven Andrew Zabel sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $510,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 122,246 shares in the company, valued at $6,241,880.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,772,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,018,100. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UNM. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Unum Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.38.

Unum Group Price Performance

NYSE UNM traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $51.49. The stock had a trading volume of 471,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,672. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $41.75 and a 52-week high of $54.57. The company has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.15. Unum Group had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 10.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. Unum Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.69%.

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.