Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Horace Mann Educators Corporation $HMN

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Horace Mann Educators Corporation by 1.5%, now owning approximately 12.09% of the company.
• A stock buyback program has been authorized, allowing Horace Mann to repurchase up to $50 million in shares, indicating the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• Horace Mann achieved earnings of $1.06 per share in its latest quarter, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.61.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,930,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 73,917 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.09% of Horace Mann Educators worth $210,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 806.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 69.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2,693.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,190 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,040 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the first quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the fourth quarter valued at about $255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on HMN shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Horace Mann Educators and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Horace Mann Educators from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Horace Mann Educators presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.75.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Performance

NYSE HMN traded down $0.7660 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $45.2040. 171,562 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 225,224. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $42.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.05. Horace Mann Educators Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.00 and a 1 year high of $46.31.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.35 million. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 14.23%. The company's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators Corporation will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bret A. Conklin sold 15,472 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $673,341.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,792 shares in the company, valued at $2,428,067.84. This trade represents a 21.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.24, for a total transaction of $216,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 310,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,423,901.24. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,210,975 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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.