Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Takes $3.25 Million Position in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 82,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,252,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 worth $62,000 after buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on HMN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Horace Mann Educators

In other Horace Mann Educators news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,817 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $108,060.12. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.37, for a total value of $149,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 294,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,998,887.88. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Performance

Shares of HMN stock opened at $43.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.10. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.81 and a fifty-two week high of $43.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.31.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.58. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 10.58%. Analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.45%.

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.