BlackRock Inc. Invests $227.33 Million in Kemper Corporation $KMPR

Key Points

• BlackRock initiated a major Kemper position in the second quarter, purchasing 8.43 million shares valued at approximately $227.3 million, or about 14.32% of the insurer. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 86.23% of KMPR.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Kemper has a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $43.25 target price, despite two Buy ratings. Shares opened at $27.58 and have traded between $22.69 and $54.64 over the past year.
• Kemper exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.45 versus the $0.34 consensus, but revenue fell 10.8% year over year to $1.09 billion. The company declared a $0.32 quarterly dividend, equal to a 4.6% annualized yield.

BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,432,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $227,331,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 14.32% of Kemper as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMPR. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kemper during the second quarter worth approximately $202,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Kemper in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Kemper in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,896,000. S&CO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kemper in the 2nd quarter valued at $513,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Kemper during the 2nd quarter worth $2,839,000. 86.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KMPR. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Kemper from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kemper from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Kemper from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Kemper from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Kemper from $81.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $43.25.

Kemper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMPR opened at $27.58 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $27.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of -3.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. Kemper Corporation has a one year low of $22.69 and a one year high of $54.64.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Kemper had a negative net margin of 10.84% and a positive return on equity of 2.89%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Kemper Corporation will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Kemper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -15.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kemper news, Director Gerald Laderman purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.49 per share, for a total transaction of $105,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 33,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $883,838.85. This represents a 13.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jason N. Gorevic bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.91 per share, with a total value of $129,550.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 31,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $823,989.82. This trade represents a 18.66% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 14,000 shares of company stock valued at $367,880. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kemper Profile

Kemper Corporation NYSE: KMPR is a diversified insurance holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Formed through the rebranding of Unitrin in 2010, Kemper has established a nationwide presence by offering a broad array of property and casualty insurance products. The company distributes its products through independent agents, brokers and direct-to-consumer channels, serving both individual policyholders and commercial clients.

The personal insurance segment provides coverage for automobiles, homeowners, renters and umbrella lines, while the commercial business focuses on liability, workers' compensation and specialty property solutions tailored to small and mid-sized enterprises.

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