Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.67.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Horace Mann Educators from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Horace Mann Educators stock opened at $38.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.34 and its 200 day moving average is $36.55. Horace Mann Educators has a one year low of $31.81 and a one year high of $43.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 8.14%. The company had revenue of $412.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Horace Mann Educators

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.40, for a total value of $157,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 298,324 shares in the company, valued at $11,753,965.60. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $237,078.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $801,918.56. This represents a 22.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,751 shares of company stock worth $2,272,375. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Horace Mann Educators by 2.2% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 22,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 142.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,444 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Horace Mann Educators by 60.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 3.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Company 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.