Boston Partners Raises Position in Kemper Corporation $KMPR

Key Points

• Boston Partners has increased its stake in Kemper Corporation by 14.3%, owning approximately 1.98% of the company, valued at $83 million.
• Kemper announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, with a 2.4% yield, and initiated a stock buyback plan allowing repurchases of up to $500 million in shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Kemper, with the average price target set at $72.75, reflecting a range of "sell" to "strong buy" ratings among different analysts.

Boston Partners grew its stake in Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,263,961 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 158,102 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 1.98% of Kemper worth $83,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Kemper by 87.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 74.7% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,334 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 15,106 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Kemper in the 1st quarter valued at about $301,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,948 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KMPR shares. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Kemper in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised Kemper to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kemper from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of Kemper in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JMP Securities dropped their price objective on Kemper from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alberto J. Paracchini acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $61.71 per share, with a total value of $30,855.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $49.37 per share, with a total value of $148,110.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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. In the last three months, insiders have bought 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $432,845. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kemper Stock Down 0.6%

KMPR stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Monday, reaching $52.89. 849,154 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,720. The firm's 50 day moving average is $60.64 and its 200 day moving average is $62.63. Kemper Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.02 and a twelve month high of $73.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.27.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.22). Kemper had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 7.18%. 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 posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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 Announces Dividend

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

Kemper announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 12.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.