MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 5,395 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 88,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,395 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $5,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Unum Group by 8.0% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 872,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,609,000 after buying an additional 64,661 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the 1st quarter valued at $703,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,945,000. My Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Unum Group in the 2nd quarter worth $473,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unum Group during the second quarter worth $2,007,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of Unum Group 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 owns 58,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,768,822.56. The trade was a 7.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 67,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $3,727,369.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,065,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,601,422.64. This trade represents a 5.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 165,709 shares of company stock worth $10,956,914. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Unum Group Stock Performance

UNM opened at $76.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.52. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $42.09 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.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

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.