Unum Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:UNM)

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 20,300 call options on the company. This is an increase of 659% compared to the average volume of 2,674 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unum Group in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Unum Group from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price objective on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on Unum Group from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Unum Group from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.42.

Insider Activity at Unum Group

In other Unum Group news, Director Timothy F. Keaney sold 4,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.02, for a total value of $404,286.00. Following the sale, the director owned 36,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,431,918.04. The trade was a 10.54% 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 link. Also, CAO Lynn Jr sold 2,188 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.31, for a total value of $206,350.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,003.74. This represents a 21.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,488 shares of company stock worth $988,396. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unum Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Unum Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 27,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Unum Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after buying an additional 8,586 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Unum Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, BOKF NA raised its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 26,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unum Group Price Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $91.65 on Friday. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $69.02 and a 12 month high of $96.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.90.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16. Unum Group had a net margin of 5.26% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 26th that authorizes the company to buy back $1 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.5050 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is currently 47.09%.

About Unum Group

Unum Group is an insurance company that provides employee benefits and related protection products through employers, as well as selected individual policies. Its offerings are designed to help people manage the financial impact of illness, injury, death and other unexpected events.

The company’s products include short-term and long-term disability insurance, group and individual life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment coverage, and supplemental health benefits such as accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity insurance.