State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 800 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $2,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNM. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 60.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 40.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 108,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,855,000 after acquiring an additional 30,881 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 3.9% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 192,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,364,000 after acquiring an additional 5,487 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $579,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,588,751. This represents a 18.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total value of $4,099,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 980,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. This represents a 4.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Unum Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Unum Group stock opened at $79.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Unum Group has a 52 week low of $48.38 and a 52 week high of $83.96. The company has a market capitalization of $14.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.35.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 17.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNM has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Unum Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Unum Group from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.62.

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.