Unum Group (UNM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.42 on February 14th

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 9th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th.

Unum Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Unum Group has a dividend payout ratio of 16.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Unum Group to earn $9.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.6%.

Unum Group Stock Down 1.6 %

UNM stock opened at $71.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.87. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $44.83 and a fifty-two week high of $77.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Unum Group had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Unum Group will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,250 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $227,565.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,554,355.24. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.16, for a total value of $320,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,741 shares in the company, valued at $3,768,822.56. The trade was a 7.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 107,914 shares of company stock valued at $7,998,745. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Unum Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.55.

Unum Group Company 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.