Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes Position in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 25,748 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,711,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kemper by 141.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Kemper during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Kemper by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Kemper in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Kemper during the third quarter valued at $82,000. 86.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Kemper from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.60.

Kemper Trading Up 0.3 %

KMPR opened at $67.30 on Thursday. Kemper Co. has a 1-year low of $54.11 and a 1-year high of $73.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.40. Kemper had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 6.85%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kemper Co. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Kemper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.07%.

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.