LPL Financial LLC Cuts Stock Position in Horace Mann Educators Corporation $HMN

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC reduced its holdings in Horace Mann Educators Corporation by 14.3%, selling 5,453 shares and retaining 32,692 shares, valued at approximately $1.4 million.
• Horace Mann Educators reported $1.06 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding estimates of $0.61, while its revenue was $302.60 million, lower than the $425.35 million forecasted by analysts.
• Institutional ownership of Horace Mann Educators is high, with approximately 99.28% of the stock held by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating strong confidence in the company’s future.

LPL Financial LLC lessened its stake in Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN - Free Report) by 14.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,692 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,453 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.08% of Horace Mann Educators worth $1,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 1st quarter valued at about $275,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,033 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company's stock.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of HMN traded up $0.30 on Thursday, reaching $45.81. The stock had a trading volume of 261,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,375. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. Horace Mann Educators Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.00 and a 12-month high of $46.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.12.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.45. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 8.49%.The company had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Horace Mann Educators Corporation will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Horace Mann Educators

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $211,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 302,155 shares in the company, valued at $12,775,113.40. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Donald M. Carley sold 3,500 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.94, for a total value of $160,790.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 22,092 shares in the company, valued at $1,014,906.48. This represents a 13.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,498 shares of company stock worth $1,494,268 over the last ninety days. 4.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HMN shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Horace Mann Educators from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $48.00 price target on Horace Mann Educators and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.75.

About Horace Mann Educators

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.