Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 11,954 Shares of Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) by 55.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,954 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Horace Mann Educators were worth $1,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,004,806 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $196,339,000 after buying an additional 32,586 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,463,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $135,890,000 after acquiring an additional 521,437 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,659,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,340,000 after purchasing an additional 47,074 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 183.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,162,264 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $84,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 498,149 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,542,000 after purchasing an additional 70,682 shares during the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bret A. Conklin sold 15,472 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $673,341.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,428,067.84. The trade was a 21.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was 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 directly owned 315,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,671.40. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 51,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,206,575. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

HMN stock opened at $41.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Horace Mann Educators Corporation has a 12-month low of $31.95 and a 12-month high of $44.44.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its 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 return on equity of 11.86% and a net margin of 7.04%. 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 firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. Horace Mann Educators’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Horace Mann Educators Corporation will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Horace Mann Educators Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on HMN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Horace Mann Educators from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $48.00 price target on Horace Mann Educators and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.75.

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.