Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Stock Price

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $62.00 to $64.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

UNM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Unum Group from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.09.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $64.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 6.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.76. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.75 and a fifty-two week high of $64.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.61.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. Unum Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Unum Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $3,727,369.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,601,422.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $3,727,369.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,065,868 shares in the company, valued at $58,601,422.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,464.31. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 51.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,961,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,776 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Unum Group by 6,498.1% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 636,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,145,000 after buying an additional 626,676 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 62.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,119,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,237,000 after buying an additional 432,240 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 105.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 377,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,263,000 after buying an additional 194,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the first quarter valued at about $8,988,000. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.