Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 8,781 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its holdings in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,781 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $4,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Unum Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,590,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $931,109,000 after buying an additional 300,840 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Unum Group in the 4th quarter worth $590,489,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in Unum Group by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,687,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,734,000 after purchasing an additional 163,682 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Unum Group by 51.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,961,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,776 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Unum Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,930,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,521,000 after purchasing an additional 73,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.56.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNM opened at $57.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.88. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.75 and a fifty-two week high of $58.17.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.14. Unum Group had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This is a boost from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy F. Keaney sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.61, for a total transaction of $420,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,973,138.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Timothy F. Keaney sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.61, for a total value of $420,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,973,138.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.47, for a total transaction of $236,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,952,067.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.