Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Short Interest Down 13.4% in March

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 577,700 shares, a decline of 13.4% from the February 28th total of 666,800 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 196,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Horace Mann Educators Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Horace Mann Educators stock opened at $43.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.21. Horace Mann Educators has a 1-year low of $31.81 and a 1-year high of $43.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.33.

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

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is an increase from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Horace Mann Educators’s payout ratio is currently 56.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 294,324 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,887.88. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total value of $120,693.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,643 shares in the company, valued at $584,738.98. This trade represents a 17.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,633 shares of company stock worth $593,684 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 389.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 806.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Horace Mann Educators during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings 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. 99.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.