Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. TheStreet upgraded Horace Mann Educators from a c rating to a b rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Horace Mann Educators from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Horace Mann Educators from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HMN opened at $36.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Horace Mann Educators has a 1-year low of $27.81 and a 1-year high of $38.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.88 and its 200-day moving average is $33.98.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $402.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.40 million. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 3.02%. Equities research analysts predict that Horace Mann Educators will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.93%.

Insider Activity at Horace Mann Educators

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 50,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.09, for a total transaction of $1,858,134.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,370,364. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 50,098 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.09, for a total value of $1,858,134.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,370,364. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Donald M. Carley sold 5,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total value of $175,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 29,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,040,203.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,327 shares of company stock valued at $2,728,271 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 381.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 144,357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,241,000 after purchasing an additional 114,380 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 502,862 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,774,000 after purchasing an additional 30,908 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Horace Mann Educators during the 3rd quarter valued at about $664,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 185,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 90,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 39,624 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 6,399 shares during the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.