Jane Street Group LLC Acquires 6,483 Shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) by 41.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,148 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,483 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned about 0.05% of Horace Mann Educators worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HMN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 389.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 806.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Performance

NYSE HMN opened at $42.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.28. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a twelve month low of $31.81 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $416.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.40 million. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. Horace Mann Educators’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Horace Mann Educators’s payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HMN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Horace Mann Educators from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Horace Mann Educators news, Director Victor Fetter purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $44.03 per share, for a total transaction of $154,105.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $645,259.65. The trade was a 31.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total value of $120,693.76. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,738.98. The trade was a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,816 shares of company stock worth $543,144. Company insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

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.