ProShare Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,408 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 10,460 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.48% of Horace Mann Educators worth $7,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 86,883 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,385 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 293.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 92,035 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 68,617 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the 4th quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 22,148 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 6,483 shares during the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HMN. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Horace Mann Educators from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.40, for a total transaction of $207,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 315,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,059,671.40. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Victor Fetter acquired 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $44.03 per share, with a total value of $154,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $645,259.65. This trade represents a 31.38% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,816 shares of company stock valued at $543,144 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.00% of the company's stock.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Shares of HMN stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.92. The company had a trading volume of 32,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,923. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 12-month low of $31.81 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.57 and a 200-day moving average of $40.69.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.19. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The company had revenue of $416.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $421.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Horace Mann Educators's payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

Horace Mann Educators announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Horace Mann Educators Profile

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.