Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Short Interest Update

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 524,200 shares, a drop of 17.5% from the August 15th total of 635,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 256,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Shares of Horace Mann Educators stock traded up $0.12 on Wednesday, reaching $34.20. The stock had a trading volume of 38,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 230,999. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.66. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Horace Mann Educators has a 1 year low of $28.49 and a 1 year high of $39.25.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $388.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.67 million. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. Horace Mann Educators’s payout ratio is presently 87.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 22.2% in the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Horace Mann Educators by 1,798.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 949 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Horace Mann Educators by 3.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 2nd quarter valued at $327,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,083,715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,351,000 after purchasing an additional 86,766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HMN. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Horace Mann Educators currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

About Horace Mann Educators

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.