Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) Stock Moved Down to Hold by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Horace Mann Educators from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Horace Mann Educators has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Horace Mann Educators Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Horace Mann Educators stock opened at $45.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.08. Horace Mann Educators has a 52-week low of $41.29 and a 52-week high of $55.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.38. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The firm had revenue of $443.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 16th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.64%.

Insider Activity at Horace Mann Educators

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total transaction of $25,305.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 300,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,836,771.34. The trade was a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Perry G. Hines sold 3,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $169,036.14. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,118 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,661.96. The trade was a 11.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 20,941 shares of company stock worth $1,078,975 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HMN. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 45,691 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 24.5% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 5.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,314 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd lifted its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 11.8% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 5,640 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.