UPDATE: Citigroup Initiates Unum Group at Neutral on Lack of Near-Term Analysts

Citigroup initiated coverage on Unum Group

with a Neutral rating and a $24.00 price target. Citigroup commented, "We expect earnings to be held back by the weak economy, which is pressuring sales and premiums (due to lower plan enrollments and limited wage inflation). In addition, we forecast low interest rates to reduce growth by 3-5% in 2013 as a result of lower investment yields and changes in the discount rate for new business. Management reduced the group disability discount rate by 50 bps in 3Q12, which is a $6.5M pretax headwind per quarter." Unum Group closed at $21.61 on Wednesday.