Wall Street Zen Downgrades Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) to Buy

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMNFree Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Separately, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Horace Mann Educators presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.00.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Horace Mann Educators

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HMN opened at $42.10 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.16 and a 200 day moving average of $40.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.28. Horace Mann Educators has a 12 month low of $31.81 and a 12 month high of $44.44.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMNGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $416.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $421.40 million. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 11.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Horace Mann Educators announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Horace Mann Educators news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total value of $120,693.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,738.98. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bret A. Conklin sold 15,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $673,341.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,792 shares in the company, valued at $2,428,067.84. The trade was a 21.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,014 shares of company stock worth $2,328,368. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 234,717 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,208,000 after purchasing an additional 11,205 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Horace Mann Educators during the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 19,291 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 8,034 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 19,683 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 470,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,448,000 after acquiring an additional 54,398 shares during the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Horace Mann Educators

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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