Bank of America Corp DE Cuts Stake in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 731,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 44,831 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Horace Mann Educators were worth $28,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Horace Mann Educators by 389.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Horace Mann Educators by 806.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Horace Mann Educators during the 4th quarter worth $92,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HMN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Horace Mann Educators from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report 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 company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $584,738.98. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $215,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 320,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,808,233.59. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,816 shares of company stock valued at $543,144 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HMN opened at $43.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.28. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 52 week low of $31.81 and a 52 week high of $44.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $416.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $421.40 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

Horace Mann Educators declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Horace Mann Educators

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.