Burney Co. Lowers Holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Burney Co. decreased its position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 105,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,639 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $7,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Unum Group by 89.8% during the 2nd 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 151.7% during 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. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 50.0% during 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. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Unum Group by 106.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 233,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,915,000 after buying an additional 120,559 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Unum Group by 183.5% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 170,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,694,000 after buying an additional 110,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $227,565.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,554,355.24. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were 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 $3,768,822.56. The trade was a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,914 shares of company stock valued at $7,998,745 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNM stock opened at $73.45 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.32 and a 200 day moving average of $62.48. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $44.83 and a 1 year high of $77.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $13.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.45.

Unum Group 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.