Friedenthal Financial Makes New Investment in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 10,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $796,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UNM. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Unum Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,500,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,950,000 after buying an additional 55,014 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 89.8% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,207,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,728,000 after acquiring an additional 571,436 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Unum Group by 5.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,186,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,511,000 after purchasing an additional 66,392 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Unum Group by 151.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 509,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,297,000 after purchasing an additional 307,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Unum Group by 50.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,554,000 after purchasing an additional 156,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on UNM shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Unum Group from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.55.

Unum Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNM traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $71.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,228,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,122,018. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $44.83 and a 52 week high of $77.63. The firm has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. Unum Group’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insider Activity at Unum Group

In related news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total value of $769,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,292.84. This trade represents a 15.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total transaction of $104,340.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares in the company, valued at $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 107,914 shares of company stock worth $7,998,745. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Company 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.