Zacks Research Downgrades Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) to Strong Sell

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on KMPR. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Kemper from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Kemper from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Citigroup cut shares of Kemper to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Kemper from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kemper presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $51.75.

Kemper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMPR opened at $30.10 on Wednesday. Kemper has a fifty-two week low of $27.74 and a fifty-two week high of $65.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.88.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.60). Kemper had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 4.80%. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Kemper’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kemper will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kemper

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kemper during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,020,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its stake in shares of Kemper by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 223,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,516,000 after purchasing an additional 87,272 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Kemper by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 736,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,950,000 after purchasing an additional 225,476 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Kemper by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,331,737 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $120,201,000 after purchasing an additional 97,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Kemper by 361.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 78,507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 61,479 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Company Profile

Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) is a diversified insurance holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Formed through the rebranding of Unitrin in 2010, Kemper has established a nationwide presence by offering a broad array of property and casualty insurance products. The company distributes its products through independent agents, brokers and direct-to-consumer channels, serving both individual policyholders and commercial clients.

The personal insurance segment provides coverage for automobiles, homeowners, renters and umbrella lines, while the commercial business focuses on liability, workers’ compensation and specialty property solutions tailored to small and mid-sized enterprises.