Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on HMN. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Horace Mann Educators from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet raised shares of Horace Mann Educators from a c rating to a b rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Horace Mann Educators from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Shares of HMN opened at $36.34 on Tuesday. Horace Mann Educators has a twelve month low of $27.81 and a twelve month high of $38.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.19. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 3.02% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The company had revenue of $402.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.40 million. Research analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. This is a boost from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Horace Mann Educators

In related news, CFO Bret A. Conklin sold 9,689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.80, for a total transaction of $346,866.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,922 shares in the company, valued at $2,288,407.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 50,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.09, for a total value of $1,858,134.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,370,364. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bret A. Conklin sold 9,689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.80, for a total transaction of $346,866.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,288,407.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,327 shares of company stock worth $2,728,271. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HMN. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 9,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 159,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 44,088 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 598,357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,029,000 after purchasing an additional 12,787 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 35,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

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.