Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New Investment in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Kemper in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $430,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Kemper by 24.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,050 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Kemper during the third quarter worth $239,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Kemper by 31.3% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,990,000 after acquiring an additional 15,548 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in Kemper by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 51,630 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,162,000 after purchasing an additional 10,948 shares during the last quarter. 86.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on KMPR shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Kemper from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Kemper from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kemper from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Kemper in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.20.

Kemper Stock Performance

NYSE KMPR opened at $70.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Kemper Co. has a 1-year low of $40.93 and a 1-year high of $71.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.90 and a 200-day moving average of $61.41.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Kemper had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 5.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.44) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kemper Co. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.52%.

Kemper Company Profile

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance.