Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stock Position in Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Horace Mann Educators were worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 183.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,162,264 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $84,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,210 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 7,143.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,240,000 after buying an additional 113,652 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,209,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 92,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 68,617 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 159,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,256,000 after purchasing an additional 54,443 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 0.6%

HMN opened at $42.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.46. Horace Mann Educators Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.00 and a 12 month high of $44.44.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.35 million. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 11.86% and a net margin of 7.04%. Horace Mann Educators’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. On average, research 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 initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Horace Mann Educators Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio is 50.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.24, for a total value of $216,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 310,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,423,901.24. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victor Fetter acquired 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $44.03 per share, with a total value of $154,105.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 14,655 shares in the company, valued at $645,259.65. The trade was a 31.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,198 shares of company stock worth $2,210,975. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HMN. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets set a $48.00 price target on Horace Mann Educators and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Horace Mann Educators from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

Horace Mann Educators 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.