HighTower Advisors LLC Has $621,000 Position in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kemper were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Kemper by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,698 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Kemper by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kemper by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP grew its position in shares of Kemper by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 19,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Kemper by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. 86.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Kemper from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.60.

Kemper Stock Performance

Shares of KMPR stock opened at $66.97 on Friday. Kemper Co. has a 12 month low of $54.11 and a 12 month high of $73.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.64. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.40. Kemper had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 14.11%. Equities research analysts expect that Kemper Co. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Kemper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.07%.

Kemper 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.