Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

HMN has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, September 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Horace Mann Educators from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Horace Mann Educators stock opened at $45.53 on Friday. Horace Mann Educators has a twelve month low of $41.29 and a twelve month high of $55.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.79 and its 200 day moving average is $48.22. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 0.08.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $443.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.70 million. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.64%.

Insider Transactions at Horace Mann Educators

In other Horace Mann Educators news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.99, for a total value of $382,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 299,629 shares in the company, valued at $15,278,082.71. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Donald M. Carley sold 2,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.28, for a total transaction of $107,383.12. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 28,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,503,572.80. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 20,291 shares of company stock worth $1,049,069 in the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter valued at $304,006,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,184,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,243,000 after buying an additional 12,556 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the 2nd quarter worth $72,363,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Horace Mann Educators in the 2nd quarter worth $29,287,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Horace Mann Educators in the 2nd quarter worth $20,061,000. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Horace Mann Educators Company Profile

Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE: HMN) is an insurance and financial services company focused on serving educators and other employees of public schools. Through its subsidiaries and affiliated agencies, the company provides insurance products and retirement solutions designed to address the needs of the education community.

Its offerings include automobile and homeowners insurance, life insurance, annuities, and other supplemental insurance products. Horace Mann also provides retirement products and services intended to help educators plan for long-term financial needs.