Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Short Interest Down 13.4% in March

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 577,700 shares, a decrease of 13.4% from the February 28th total of 666,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 196,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Horace Mann Educators news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.37, for a total value of $149,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 294,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,998,887.88. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,817 shares of the business’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 value of $108,060.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,262.72. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HMN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 131,246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,149,000 after acquiring an additional 14,844 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,158 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 86,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,385 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 293.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 92,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 68,617 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HMN shares. 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Horace Mann Educators currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.67.

Horace Mann Educators Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of HMN stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 89,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,189. Horace Mann Educators has a 52 week low of $31.81 and a 52 week high of $43.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.31. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34 and a beta of 0.25.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its 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 net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 10.58%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.45%.

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.