Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Grows Position in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 396,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Horace Mann Educators were worth $15,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 389.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 806.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Horace Mann Educators by 42.3% during the fourth 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Horace Mann Educators

In other news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total transaction of $120,693.76. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,738.98. The trade was a 17.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.37, for a total transaction of $149,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 294,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,998,887.88. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,816 shares of company stock worth $485,624 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HMN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.67.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HMN opened at $39.37 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.63. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 1 year low of $31.81 and a 1 year high of $43.69. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.21.

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

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. This is a positive change from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.45%.

Horace Mann Educators Profile

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.