Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.42

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 9th,RTT News reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%.

Unum Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Unum Group has a 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 Price Performance

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $72.96 on Friday. 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 has a twelve month low of $44.83 and a twelve month high of $77.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Unum Group had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unum Group news, EVP Timothy Gerald Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.92, for a total value of $769,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 54,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,292.84. The trade was a 15.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Walter Lynn Rice, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $104,340.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,591.16. This represents a 15.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 107,914 shares of company stock worth $7,998,745. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Unum Group from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Unum Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Unum Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group upgraded Unum Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Unum Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Unum Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.55.

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.