Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Stake Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 234,717 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,205 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Horace Mann Educators were worth $9,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HMN. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,444 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 125.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 27,987 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the third quarter valued at approximately $674,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 5.3% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 57,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 60.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Horace Mann Educators

In other Horace Mann Educators news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,817 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $108,060.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,352 shares in the company, valued at $627,262.72. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $167,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 300,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,613,747.74. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,817 shares of company stock worth $583,020. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Horace Mann Educators Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HMN opened at $42.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11 and a beta of 0.31. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 1-year low of $31.81 and a 1-year high of $43.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.08.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.58. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 10.58%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HMN. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.67.

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.