BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential upside of 20.76% from the stock’s current price.

UNM has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.75.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNM stock opened at $75.36 on Thursday. 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 has a 52 week low of $46.39 and a 52 week high of $77.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.86 and a 200-day moving average of $63.41. The company has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.16, for a total transaction of $320,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,768,822.56. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $104,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,591.16. The trade was a 15.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 107,914 shares of company stock valued at $7,998,745. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNM. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Unum Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Unum Group by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Unum Group by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

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.