Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stake in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) by 69.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 45,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,744 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Horace Mann Educators were worth $1,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 389.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Horace Mann Educators during the fourth quarter valued at $92,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. 99.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Horace Mann Educators Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE HMN opened at $43.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 0.25. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 1-year low of $31.81 and a 1-year high of $43.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.09.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HMN has been the topic of several research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on 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, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four research 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, Horace Mann Educators has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $108,060.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,262.72. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.40, for a total transaction of $157,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 298,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,753,965.60. The trade was a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,817 shares of company stock valued at $415,140. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.