Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $49.00. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock. Horace Mann Educators traded as high as $44.27 and last traded at $43.42, with a volume of 128370 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.58.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Horace Mann Educators from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.40, for a total value of $207,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 315,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,671.40. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total value of $120,693.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,738.98. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,816 shares of company stock valued at $543,144 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HMN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 183.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,162,264 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $84,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400,210 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 17.7% in the fourth 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. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 203.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 329,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,944,000 after acquiring an additional 221,233 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the first quarter worth $5,089,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 7,143.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,240,000 after acquiring an additional 113,652 shares during the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.39 and a 200 day moving average of $40.53.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.19. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. 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 posted $0.62 earnings per share. Horace Mann Educators’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given 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 (DPR) is presently 50.72%.

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

Horace Mann Educators Company 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.