Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.67.

Several research firms have recently commented on HMN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Horace Mann Educators from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 2.2 %

HMN stock opened at $38.86 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.08. Horace Mann Educators has a fifty-two week low of $31.81 and a fifty-two week high of $43.26.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 8.14%. The firm had revenue of $412.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Horace Mann Educators

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total transaction of $148,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 292,336 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the business’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 value of $237,078.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $801,918.56. This represents a 22.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,451 shares of company stock valued at $819,579 over the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 62,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 5,879 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 50,407 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after buying an additional 2,064 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,873 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,996,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.