111 Capital Makes New Investment in Kemper Corporation $KMPR

111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 7,661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMPR. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kemper in the 2nd quarter valued at $652,000. Paragon Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kemper in the 2nd quarter valued at $207,000. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Kemper by 50.3% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 861 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Charter Capital Management LLC DE bought a new stake in shares of Kemper in the 2nd quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Kemper in the 2nd quarter valued at $12,819,000. Institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Stock Performance

NYSE KMPR opened at $50.62 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $53.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Kemper Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.02 and a 1 year high of $73.01.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.22). Kemper had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 7.18%.The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kemper Corporation will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.11%.

Kemper declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 12.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Kemper in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kemper in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kemper to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kemper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Kemper in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.75.

Insider Activity at Kemper

In other news, Director Jason N. Gorevic bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $49.14 per share, with a total value of $98,280.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,618.08. This represents a 9.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Laderman bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $49.37 per share, for a total transaction of $148,110.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,216,229.95. This represents a 13.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.