Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 37.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,623 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $1,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor OS LLC acquired a new position in Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at $341,000. Callan Capital LLC raised its stake in Unum Group by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Unum Group by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,264,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,383,000 after purchasing an additional 392,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Unum Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,927 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Unum Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.83.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $81.29 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.93 and a 200 day moving average of $67.83. Unum Group has a 12 month low of $48.38 and a 12 month high of $83.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

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

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.74%.

Unum Group 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.