Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Grows Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 571,436 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,119,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,237,000 after buying an additional 432,240 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Unum Group by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 872,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,609,000 after acquiring an additional 64,661 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 413,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,127,000 after acquiring an additional 35,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Unum Group by 20.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 411,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,078,000 after acquiring an additional 69,928 shares during the period. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.73.

Unum Group Price Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $72.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.62. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $41.86 and a 1 year high of $72.96.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Unum Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Unum Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $104,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,250 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $227,565.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,554,355.24. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,545 shares of company stock worth $4,380,074. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Unum Group

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.