Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.37

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.365 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th.

Unum Group has raised its dividend by an average of 6.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Unum Group has a dividend payout ratio of 16.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Unum Group to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.46 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.7%.

Unum Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of UNM opened at $51.78 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.10 and a 200 day moving average of $47.61. Unum Group has a fifty-two week low of $40.04 and a fifty-two week high of $54.57. The firm has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.07). Unum Group had a return on equity of 16.03% and a net margin of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven Andrew Zabel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $510,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 122,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,241,880.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Unum Group news, EVP Elizabeth Claire Ahmed sold 5,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,772,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven Andrew Zabel sold 10,000 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $510,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 122,246 shares in the company, valued at $6,241,880.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,018,100 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on UNM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Unum Group from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Unum Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Unum Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Unum Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.38.

About Unum Group

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.