Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 106,400 Unum Group $UNM

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 106,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,593,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.06% of Unum Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNM. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 155.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,278,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,139 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the first quarter worth approximately $93,287,000. Teewinot Capital Advisers L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the first quarter worth approximately $58,881,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 228.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,033,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,205,000 after acquiring an additional 719,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Unum Group by 202.1% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 945,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,512,000 after acquiring an additional 632,358 shares during the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Unum Group from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group set a $87.00 price target on Unum Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Unum Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays set a $96.00 price target on Unum Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of Unum Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.14.

Unum Group Price Performance

Unum Group stock opened at $79.43 on Friday. Unum Group has a one year low of $59.98 and a one year high of $84.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.22. The company has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.36.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.16). Unum Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 13.44%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Unum Group’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Unum Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.500-8.50 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Unum Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Unum Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

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.