Unum Group upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Jefferies upgraded Unum Group (UNM) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $50, up from $44. The analyst is taking advantage of the recent sector pullback to make some tactical changes in life Insurance, namely upgrading Unum and opening a Unum over Aflac (AFL) "relative value idea." The firm says Unum’s core business is performing as well as it has seen. The company should have only positive leverage to high rates and it has one of the strongest excess capital positions in the space, the analyst tells investors in a research note.