Brighton Jones LLC Makes New Investment in Kemper Corporation $KMPR

Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,590 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Kemper by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Kemper by 50.3% during 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 during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Kemper by 68.8% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Kemper by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,948 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kemper by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,737 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. 86.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kemper Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:KMPR opened at $45.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.39. Kemper Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.02 and a 1 year high of $73.01. 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 (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Kemper had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 7.18%.The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Kemper Corporation will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Kemper declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 12.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The business 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 was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kemper

In other news, Director Jason N. Gorevic purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $49.14 per share, with a total value of $98,280.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 22,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,618.08. This trade represents a 9.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Laderman purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $49.37 per share, with a total value of $148,110.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 24,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,216,229.95. This trade represents a 13.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KMPR. Zacks Research raised shares of Kemper from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $50.00 target price (down from $75.00) on shares of Kemper in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Kemper from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kemper in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kemper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.25.

Kemper Profile

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.