Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 11,954 Shares of Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) by 55.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,954 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.08% of Horace Mann Educators worth $1,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Horace Mann Educators by 806.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the first quarter worth $275,000. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.87, for a total value of $214,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,167,734.85. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Victor Fetter acquired 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $44.03 per share, with a total value of $154,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,259.65. This trade represents a 31.38% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,198 shares of company stock worth $2,206,575 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on HMN. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Horace Mann Educators from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets set a $48.00 target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Down 0.2%

HMN opened at $41.49 on Wednesday. Horace Mann Educators Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.95 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.19. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 11.86% and a net margin of 7.04%. The firm had revenue of $416.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $421.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators Corporation will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Horace Mann Educators Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Horace Mann Educators’s payout ratio is 50.72%.

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.