Short Interest in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Expands By 6.7%

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 721,100 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the November 30th total of 675,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 254,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of HMN stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.23. 105,493 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 200,202. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. Horace Mann Educators has a fifty-two week low of $31.81 and a fifty-two week high of $43.26.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $412.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.87 million. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 6.55%. Horace Mann Educators’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.18%.

Insider Transactions at Horace Mann Educators

In other news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $237,078.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,057 shares in the company, valued at $801,918.56. This represents a 22.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total value of $148,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 292,336 shares in the company, valued at $10,886,592.64. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,751 shares of company stock valued at $2,114,775 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Horace Mann Educators in the second quarter valued at $59,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Horace Mann Educators by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 22,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 67.5% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,571 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 10,302 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 37.4% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 47,462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,548,000 after buying an additional 11,722 shares in the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Horace Mann Educators from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.67.

Horace Mann Educators Company Profile

Horace Mann Educators Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an insurance holding company in the United States. The company operates through Property & Casualty, Life & Retirement, and Supplemental & Group Benefits segments. Its Property & Casualty segment offers insurance products, including private passenger auto insurance, residential home insurance, and personal umbrella insurance; and provides auto coverages including liability and collision, and property coverage for homeowners and renters.