Unum Group Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.42 (NYSE:UNM)

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 9th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th.

Unum Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Unum Group has a payout ratio of 16.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Unum Group to earn $9.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.6%.

Unum Group Price Performance

UNM opened at $71.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $44.83 and a 1 year high of $77.63. The stock has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $769,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were 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 trade represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 107,914 shares of company stock valued at $7,998,745. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.55.

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.