Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $81.60.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMPR. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Kemper from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Kemper from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kemper

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMPR. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Kemper by 114.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Kemper by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 6,876 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kemper by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,722 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kemper by 83.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kemper in the 3rd quarter worth about $430,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Price Performance

Shares of Kemper stock opened at $65.46 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Kemper has a 1-year low of $54.11 and a 1-year high of $73.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.88.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.40. Kemper had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 14.11%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kemper will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Kemper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Kemper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.07%.

About Kemper

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance.