FBR Capital Markets Wednesday increased its price target to $23 from $22 while maintaining its Market Perform rating on disability insurance provider Unum Group (UNM).
Randy Binner, analyst at FBR, believes the company has relatively good credit and excess capital position.
The brokerage said it was keeping the rating at Market Perform as it is cautious about the potentially negative impact of higher employment on the benefit ratio.
According to FBR, the company reported decent third-quarter results with operating earnings of $0.64 a share, in line with the Consensus estimate and FBR's estimate of $0.63 per share. The brokerage believes the result was influenced by favorable benefit ratios in the U.S. and UK sectors.
"Overall, we view the result as solid in light of the macroeconomic environment, but revenue pressures make our $2.60 2010E EPS increasingly reliant on benefit ratios holding at favorable levels," FBR Capital Markets stated.
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