Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.67.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Horace Mann Educators

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total value of $148,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 292,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,886,592.64. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $237,078.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $801,918.56. This trade represents a 22.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,751 shares of company stock worth $2,114,775 in the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 223,512 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,812,000 after buying an additional 21,430 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the second quarter worth about $636,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 558,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,513,000 after acquiring an additional 6,254 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the second quarter valued at about $508,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,037,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HMN opened at $41.46 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.85. Horace Mann Educators has a 52 week low of $31.81 and a 52 week high of $43.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.30.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $412.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.87 million. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 8.14%. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.18%.

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.