Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 347,841 Shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 35.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 623,291 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 347,841 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kemper were worth $30,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMPR. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Kemper by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Kemper by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,125,824 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $173,408,000 after buying an additional 150,584 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kemper during the fourth quarter valued at $641,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Kemper by 53.7% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 302,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,700,000 after acquiring an additional 105,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kemper by 8.3% in the third quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 299,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 22,990 shares during the last quarter. 86.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kemper Stock Performance

Shares of KMPR stock opened at $60.35 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.81. Kemper Co. has a 52 week low of $38.32 and a 52 week high of $64.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of -31.76 and a beta of 0.89.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Kemper had a positive return on equity of 3.03% and a negative net margin of 2.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.02) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kemper Co. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -65.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMPR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Kemper from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Kemper in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Kemper in a report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Kemper from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Kemper from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $70.40.

Kemper Company Profile

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance.