D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys Shares of 21,881 Kemper Corporation $KMPR

D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 21,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $669,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMPR. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kemper by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,780,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $143,323,000 after acquiring an additional 795,131 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Kemper by 129.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,115,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $57,512,000 after purchasing an additional 630,241 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Kemper during the fourth quarter worth $24,324,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Kemper during the first quarter worth $18,074,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Kemper during the fourth quarter worth $20,730,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of KMPR opened at $27.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. Kemper Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.69 and a 1-year high of $62.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.69 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.17.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.60). The company had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Kemper had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 4.80%. Kemper’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Kemper Corporation will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Kemper’s payout ratio is 206.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Kemper from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Kemper in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kemper from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

About Kemper

Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) is a diversified insurance holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Formed through the rebranding of Unitrin in 2010, Kemper has established a nationwide presence by offering a broad array of property and casualty insurance products. The company distributes its products through independent agents, brokers and direct-to-consumer channels, serving both individual policyholders and commercial clients.

The personal insurance segment provides coverage for automobiles, homeowners, renters and umbrella lines, while the commercial business focuses on liability, workers’ compensation and specialty property solutions tailored to small and mid-sized enterprises.