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

StockNews.com cut shares of Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Horace Mann Educators from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet upgraded Horace Mann Educators from a c rating to a b rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Horace Mann Educators from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Horace Mann Educators stock opened at $35.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79 and a beta of 0.28. Horace Mann Educators has a 12-month low of $27.81 and a 12-month high of $38.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.92.

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

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 50,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,370,364. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Horace Mann Educators news, SVP Kimberly A. Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,264. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 50,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 279,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,370,364. 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 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HMN. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,083,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $119,983,000 after buying an additional 1,241,193 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,578,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,001,000 after acquiring an additional 303,501 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Horace Mann Educators during the third quarter worth about $6,124,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,756,943 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,822,000 after purchasing an additional 186,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 143.0% in the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 210,030 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,229,000 after purchasing an additional 123,594 shares during the period. 99.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.