7,021 Shares in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) Acquired by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 7,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KMPR. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Kemper by 114.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Kemper by 5,590.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 569 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Kemper in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Kemper by 105.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 642 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Kemper in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Stock Performance

NYSE:KMPR opened at $70.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.20. Kemper Co. has a twelve month low of $40.93 and a twelve month high of $70.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Kemper had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.44) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Kemper Co. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KMPR. Raymond James increased their price objective on Kemper from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Kemper from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com raised Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kemper in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Kemper from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.20.

About Kemper

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.