Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 4,496 Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,496 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unum Group in the third quarter worth about $37,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unum Group by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 702 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Unum Group during the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in Unum Group by 4,794.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 930 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UNM. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Unum Group from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Unum Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Unum Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $76.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unum Group news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total value of $769,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,217,292.84. This represents a 15.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.16, for a total value of $320,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,768,822.56. This trade represents a 7.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,914 shares of company stock worth $7,998,745 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Unum Group Trading Down 0.7 %

UNM traded down $0.55 on Friday, hitting $75.01. The company had a trading volume of 806,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 890,514. The company's fifty day moving average price is $73.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.76. Unum Group has a 1 year low of $46.39 and a 1 year high of $77.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Unum Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

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.