Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 19,194 Shares of Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR - Free Report) by 74.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,942 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 19,194 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Kemper worth $3,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMPR. CX Institutional bought a new stake in shares of Kemper during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. 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. CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new position in Kemper in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Kemper during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Kemper by 197.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 717 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMPR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Kemper in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Kemper from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. JMP Securities cut their price target on Kemper from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Kemper to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Kemper in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.75.

Kemper Price Performance

Shares of KMPR stock traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.21. 927,082 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,041,486. 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 market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average is $60.64 and its 200-day moving average is $62.67.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Kemper had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kemper Corporation will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Kemper's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.11%.

Kemper announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 12.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kemper

In other Kemper news, Director Alberto J. Paracchini purchased 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.71 per share, with a total value of $30,855.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,323 shares in the company, valued at $637,032.33. This trade represents a 5.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Laderman purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $49.37 per share, for a total transaction of $148,110.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,216,229.95. This trade represents a 13.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $432,845. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Kemper

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.