Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 469,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 156,380 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $29,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group during the second quarter worth about $3,945,000. My Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $473,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,007,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 232,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,835,000 after buying an additional 24,664 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,500,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,950,000 after buying an additional 55,014 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on UNM. Barclays increased their price objective on Unum Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.09.

Unum Group Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:UNM opened at $70.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.38. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $44.01 and a 52-week high of $77.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,741 shares in the company, valued at $3,768,822.56. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total value of $769,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 54,827 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,292.84. The trade was a 15.43 % 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 in the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.