Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Makes New $213,000 Investment in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 47,184 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,474 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 89,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,638,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,713 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,196,000 after buying an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 20,914 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Horace Mann Educators

In other news, General Counsel Donald M. Carley sold 5,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total value of $175,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 29,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,040,203.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, General Counsel Donald M. Carley sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total value of $175,550.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 29,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,040,203.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $99,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,390,784. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,229 shares of company stock valued at $870,137 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Horace Mann Educators from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Horace Mann Educators from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Horace Mann Educators from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, TheStreet raised Horace Mann Educators from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

HMN opened at $38.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.61. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 52-week low of $27.81 and a 52-week high of $38.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.93 and a beta of 0.26.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $402.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.40 million. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 3.02%. On average, analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.93%.

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.