Kestra Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 517 Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $38,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,500,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,950,000 after buying an additional 55,014 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 5.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,186,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,511,000 after buying an additional 66,392 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position 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 worth $30,297,000 after buying an additional 307,175 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 worth $29,554,000 after buying an additional 156,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 351,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,667,000 after buying an additional 2,492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Unum Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total transaction of $769,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,292.84. This trade represents a 15.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group Stock Performance

UNM stock opened at $74.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.80. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $48.38 and a 1 year high of $79.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.85.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). Unum Group had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 14.91%. On average, research analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.74%.

Unum Group declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.