Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stake in Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) by 74.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,334 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,106 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.06% of Kemper worth $2,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Kemper by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 26,630 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Kemper by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Kemper by 104.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 650 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kemper by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kemper by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,862 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMPR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kemper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Kemper from $86.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gerald Laderman acquired 2,500 shares of Kemper stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $62.24 per share, for a total transaction of $155,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,635 shares in the company, valued at $1,346,562.40. The trade was a 13.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alberto J. Paracchini purchased 500 shares of Kemper stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.71 per share, with a total value of $30,855.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $637,032.33. This represents a 5.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kemper Stock Performance

NYSE:KMPR opened at $61.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.24 and its 200-day moving average is $63.80. Kemper Corporation has a 1-year low of $53.57 and a 1-year high of $73.01.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.17. Kemper had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. Kemper’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kemper Corporation will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is 23.93%.

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.