Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Stock Rating Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) was upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Monday, FinViz reports. The firm presently has a $90.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $98.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.53% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on UNM. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unum Group in a report on Monday, October 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Unum Group from $109.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Atlantic Securities set a $88.00 price objective on Unum Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Unum Group from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Unum Group from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.25.

Unum Group Price Performance

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $76.58 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.05. Unum Group has a 12-month low of $69.02 and a 12-month high of $96.77. The firm has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 54.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 12.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Unum Group will post 8.41 EPS for the current year.

Unum Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 26th that permits the company to buy back $1 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Unum Group

In other news, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 2,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.31, for a total value of $206,350.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $769,003.74. This represents a 21.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa G. Iglesias sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.44, for a total transaction of $377,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,453 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,781.32. This represents a 13.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,488 shares of company stock valued at $988,396. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Unum Group by 7.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,084,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $298,287,000 after purchasing an additional 292,670 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $84,097,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Unum Group by 14.6% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 754,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,089,000 after purchasing an additional 96,123 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unum Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,064,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Unum Group by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 631,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,133,000 after purchasing an additional 110,342 shares in the last quarter. 86.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Unum Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Unum Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Despite lowering their targets, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods kept an “outperform” rating at $97 and Truist Financial maintained a “buy” rating at $85. Both targets are above the $76.58 price cited in the coverage. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods target Truist target
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings-call recap highlighted growth opportunities alongside risks, while a sector outlook identified potential support for accident and health insurers from underwriting exposure and digitalization, counterbalanced by medical-cost inflation and pricing pressure. Earnings call highlights Sector outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Unum’s Q3 report included a $419.7 million net loss, an SEC comment-letter process and a change in reserve methodology. Levi & Korsinsky and SueWallSt separately announced investigations into potential securities claims; these are allegations and investigations, not findings of wrongdoing. Levi & Korsinsky investigation notice SueWallSt investigation notice
• Negative Sentiment: KBW cut its price target from $108 to $97, and Truist reduced its target from $96 to $85. Coverage also reported that UNM shares fell below their 200-day moving average after an analyst downgrade—a technical signal that may weigh on sentiment. Moving-average and downgrade report

Unum Group Company Profile

Unum Group is an insurance holding company that provides employee benefits and related services, primarily to employers and their workers. Its offerings include group disability and life insurance, accident and critical illness coverage, and services that help employers manage employee leave and workplace absence.

Through its Unum and Colonial Life businesses, the company also provides voluntary benefits that employees can elect through their workplaces. In the United Kingdom, Unum offers workplace benefits including income protection, life insurance and critical illness coverage.

The company traces its roots to 1848, when Union Mutual was established in Maine.