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

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.42 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%.

Unum Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Unum Group has a dividend payout ratio of 17.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Unum Group to earn $9.87 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 17.0%.

Unum Group Price Performance

UNM traded down $3.56 on Thursday, reaching $73.33. The company had a trading volume of 488,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,515. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.61. The company has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.46. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $48.38 and a 52-week high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

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 that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,751. This represents a 18.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $4,099,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 980,637 shares in the company, valued at $80,402,427.63. This trade 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Unum Group stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on UNM shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised Unum Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unum Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.79.

About Unum Group

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.