Since July 2025, Unum Group has been in a holding pattern, posting a small loss of 3.7% while floating around $78.68. The stock also fell short of the S&P 500’s 10.8% gain during that period.

Is now the time to buy Unum Group, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? Get the full breakdown from our expert analysts, it’s free for active Edge members.

Why Is Unum Group Not Exciting?

We're sitting this one out for now. Here are three reasons we avoid UNM and a stock we'd rather own.

1. Net Premiums Earned Point to Soft Demand

When insurers sell policies, they protect themselves from extremely large losses or an outsized accumulation of losses with reinsurance (insurance for insurance companies). Net premiums earned are:

• Gross premiums - what’s ceded to reinsurers as a risk mitigation and transfer strategy

Unum Group’s net premiums earned has grown at a 2.7% annualized rate over the last five years, much worse than the broader insurance industry and in line with its total revenue.

2. EPS Barely Growing

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) because it highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Unum Group’s EPS grew at an unimpressive 9.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. On the bright side, this performance was better than its 1.9% annualized revenue growth and tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

3. BVPS Growth Demonstrates Strong Asset Foundation

For insurers, book value per share (BVPS) is a vital measure of financial health, representing the total assets available to shareholders after accounting for all liabilities, including policyholder reserves and claims obligations.

Although Unum Group’s BVPS increased by a meager 3.8% annually over the last five years, the good news is that its growth has recently accelerated as BVPS grew at a decent 14.4% annual clip over the past two years (from $49.32 to $64.56 per share).

Final Judgment

Unum Group isn’t a terrible business, but it isn’t one of our picks. With its shares lagging the market recently, the stock trades at 1.2× forward P/B (or $78.68 per share). This valuation multiple is fair, but we don’t have much faith in the company. We're fairly confident there are better stocks to buy right now. We’d recommend looking at a top digital advertising platform riding the creator economy.

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