Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Cuts Stock Holdings in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC reduced its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) by 87.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,041 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,540 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Horace Mann Educators were worth $41,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 21,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 389.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Horace Mann Educators

In other Horace Mann Educators news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.40, for a total transaction of $207,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 315,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,671.40. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total transaction of $120,693.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,738.98. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,816 shares of company stock valued at $543,144. Corporate insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HMN shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Horace Mann Educators from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.67.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

HMN stock opened at $41.53 on Wednesday. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 1 year low of $31.81 and a 1 year high of $43.69. The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.32 and a 200 day moving average of $40.44. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.19. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $416.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.72%.

Horace Mann Educators 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.