Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes $5.02 Million Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 84,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,021,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Unum Group by 89.8% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,207,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,728,000 after buying an additional 571,436 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unum Group by 62.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,119,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,237,000 after acquiring an additional 432,240 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Unum Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,640,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Unum Group by 106.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 233,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,915,000 after purchasing an additional 120,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Unum Group by 183.5% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 170,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,694,000 after purchasing an additional 110,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Unum Group news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 58,865 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.39, for a total transaction of $4,437,832.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,007,003 shares in the company, valued at $75,917,956.17. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,768,822.56. The trade was a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 165,709 shares of company stock worth $10,956,914. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Unum Group Stock Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $75.84 on Friday. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $41.97 and a 12-month high of $76.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $63.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.66.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Unum Group’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Unum Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.73.

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.