Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Short Interest Update

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 824,100 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the October 31st total of 762,100 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 273,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $237,078.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $801,918.56. This trade represents a 22.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 42,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.06, for a total value of $1,560,856.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 294,402 shares in the company, valued at $10,910,538.12. This trade represents a 12.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,751 shares of company stock valued at $2,114,775. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HMN. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,942,494 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $104,194,000 after acquiring an additional 359,083 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 129.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 291,164 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,176,000 after purchasing an additional 164,036 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in Horace Mann Educators by 8.7% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,083,715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,351,000 after buying an additional 86,766 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 476.8% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 77,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,571,000 after buying an additional 64,087 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,037,000. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:HMN traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.02. 31,091 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 240,489. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. Horace Mann Educators has a one year low of $31.81 and a one year high of $43.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.45.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $412.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.87 million. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 6.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HMN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Horace Mann Educators from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Horace Mann Educators has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.67.

Horace Mann Educators Company 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.