This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. UNM shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 22 hedge funds in our database with UNM holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of gauges investors can use to track stocks. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can outperform the market by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. There are a number of incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a gander at the latest action surrounding Unum Group (NYSE:UNM).

Hedge fund activity in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -14% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the largest position in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM), worth close to $122 million, accounting for 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $51 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Seeing as Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) has witnessed a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, we can see that there were a few money managers that slashed their full holdings at the end of the year. Interestingly, David Harding’s Winton Capital Management dropped the biggest position of the 450+ funds we monitor, valued at about $5 million in stock., and Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment Corp was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds at the end of the year.

What have insiders been doing with Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s strategies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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