Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Stock

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $74.00 to $81.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on UNM. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Unum Group from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.45.

Unum Group Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:UNM opened at $72.98 on Tuesday. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $44.83 and a 1 year high of $77.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.48. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. Unum Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,768,822.56. The trade was a 7.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $227,565.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,762 shares in the company, valued at $3,554,355.24. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 107,914 shares of company stock worth $7,998,745. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unum Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNM. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Unum Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $346,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 5.2% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 694.9% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 4,058 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 17.2% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 17,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 49,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,554,000 after purchasing an additional 7,077 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.