Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 1,293,818 Shares of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Free Report) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,708,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,293,818 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.94% of Unum Group worth $124,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNM. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Unum Group by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 4,450 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Unum Group by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 25,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,846,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Unum Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,533,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Unum Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,003,918,000. Institutional investors own 86.57% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Unum Group

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNM has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Unum Group from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Unum Group from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Unum Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.86.

Unum Group Price Performance

UNM stock traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $82.93. The company had a trading volume of 957,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,143. Unum Group has a 1-year low of $48.38 and a 1-year high of $85.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.74.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Unum Group will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Unum Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Unum Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Unum Group's payout ratio is 17.74%.

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.