Kemper Corporation $KMPR Shares Sold by Mengis Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Mengis Capital Management Inc. significantly reduced its holdings in Kemper Corporation by 47.3%, owning 8,688 shares worth $561,000 after selling 7,812 shares.
• Kemper Corporation recently approved a $500 million stock buyback plan, indicating that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
• Despite a revenue increase of 8.5% year-over-year, Kemper reported lower-than-expected earnings per share of $1.30 for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.22.

Mengis Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR - Free Report) by 47.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,688 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,812 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Kemper were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Kemper by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,688 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in Kemper by 50.3% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 861 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Kemper by 104.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 650 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Kemper by 68.8% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 883 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Kemper by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. 86.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kemper

In related news, Director Jason N. Gorevic purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $49.14 per share, for a total transaction of $98,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 22,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,618.08. This trade represents a 9.96% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Laderman purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $49.37 per share, for a total transaction of $148,110.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 24,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,216,229.95. The trade was a 13.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kemper Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Kemper stock opened at $49.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Kemper Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.02 and a 52-week high of $73.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.87.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Kemper had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kemper Corporation will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kemper declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 12.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Kemper's payout ratio is currently 24.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KMPR. Zacks Research raised Kemper from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler restated an "underweight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of Kemper in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Kemper from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on Kemper from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kemper in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.75.

Kemper Profile

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance.

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