Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 88,524 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 521,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 88,524 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $23,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in Unum Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in Unum Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Unum Group by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Unum Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 7,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Unum Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Unum Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.38.

Unum Group Price Performance

UNM opened at $51.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.86, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.66. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $40.04 and a 12-month high of $54.57.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.07). Unum Group had a return on equity of 16.03% and a net margin of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $0.365 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 22.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,772,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Steven Andrew Zabel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total transaction of $510,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 122,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,241,880.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,772,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,018,100. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.