KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 15,800 Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 15,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $620,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HMN. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,942,494 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,194,000 after buying an additional 359,083 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 203.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 329,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,944,000 after purchasing an additional 221,233 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 470,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,448,000 after purchasing an additional 54,398 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Horace Mann Educators by 336.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,446,000 after acquiring an additional 53,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the fourth quarter worth $1,511,000. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HMN. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,817 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $108,060.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,262.72. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.37, for a total transaction of $149,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 294,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,887.88. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

NYSE HMN opened at $43.60 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 0.25. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 52-week low of $31.81 and a 52-week high of $43.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.09.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.58. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. Equities research analysts predict that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Horace Mann Educators’s payout ratio is 56.45%.

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.