Principal Street Partners LLC Sells 31,539 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Principal Street Partners LLC cut its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 22.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,539 shares during the period. Unum Group accounts for about 1.0% of Principal Street Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Principal Street Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Unum Group worth $6,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Unum Group by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 105,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,679,000 after acquiring an additional 5,356 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in Unum Group in the first quarter worth $260,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 15.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 107,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,777,000 after purchasing an additional 14,674 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 182,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,774,000 after buying an additional 3,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 175.5% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 8,131 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on UNM. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upgraded Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.73.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $76.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.76. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $41.97 and a 52 week high of $76.72.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 8,361 shares in the company, valued at $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.16, for a total value of $320,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,768,822.56. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 165,709 shares of company stock valued at $10,956,914 in the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.