Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Wall Street Zen reports.

HMN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, September 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Horace Mann Educators from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Horace Mann Educators Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of HMN opened at $45.81 on Monday. Horace Mann Educators has a 1-year low of $41.29 and a 1-year high of $55.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.15 and a 200 day moving average of $48.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $443.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.70 million. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Horace Mann Educators

In other news, General Counsel Donald Carley sold 2,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.28, for a total transaction of $107,383.12. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 28,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,572.80. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 550 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total transaction of $25,305.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 300,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,836,771.34. The trade was a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,941 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,975. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 2nd quarter worth $304,006,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,184,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,243,000 after buying an additional 12,556 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,363,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,287,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter valued at about $20,061,000. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

About Horace Mann Educators

Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE: HMN) is an insurance and financial services company focused on serving educators and other employees of public schools. Through its subsidiaries and affiliated agencies, the company provides insurance products and retirement solutions designed to address the needs of the education community.

Its offerings include automobile and homeowners insurance, life insurance, annuities, and other supplemental insurance products. Horace Mann also provides retirement products and services intended to help educators plan for long-term financial needs.