Short Interest in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Drops By 21.1%

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 666,800 shares, a decrease of 21.1% from the February 13th total of 844,900 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 198,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HMN. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Horace Mann Educators has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.67.

Insider Activity at Horace Mann Educators

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.40, for a total transaction of $157,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 298,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,753,965.60. The trade was a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $108,060.12. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,262.72. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,817 shares of company stock valued at $415,140 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HMN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 389.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 806.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 60.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Hedge funds and other 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 $41.54. The company had a trading volume of 44,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 218,814. Horace Mann Educators has a 1 year low of $31.81 and a 1 year high of $43.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 0.25.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.58. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. Equities analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.45%.

About Horace Mann Educators

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.