Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Unum Group were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Unum Group by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 397,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,015,000 after purchasing an additional 29,148 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Unum Group by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 300,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,968,000 after purchasing an additional 76,708 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $963,000. 86.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Mckenney sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.99, for a total transaction of $4,099,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 980,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,402,427.63. This represents a 4.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $579,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,751. This represents a 18.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Unum Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE UNM opened at $81.54 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.46. 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 has a 1-year low of $48.38 and a 1-year high of $83.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.74.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued 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 return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 13.81%. As a group, research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Unum Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.74%.

Unum Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.