Trexquant Investment LP Purchases 48,172 Shares of Kemper Corporation $KMPR

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in Kemper Corporation by 76.5%, acquiring an additional 48,172 shares, bringing its total ownership to 111,101 shares worth approximately $7.4 million.
• Kemper's board recently approved a $500 million stock buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 12.8% of its shares, indicating confidence in its stock value.
• The company reported EPS of $1.30 for the latest quarter, missing estimates, with revenue of $1.23 billion, reflecting an 8.5% increase compared to the previous year.

Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR - Free Report) by 76.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,101 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 48,172 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.17% of Kemper worth $7,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMPR. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Kemper during the 4th quarter valued at about $234,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kemper by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 554,437 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $36,837,000 after buying an additional 55,994 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kemper by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 30,155 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its position in Kemper by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 114,543 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,610,000 after acquiring an additional 7,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Kemper during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. 86.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kemper

In other news, Director Gerald Laderman acquired 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was acquired 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 $1,216,229.95. This represents a 13.87% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jason N. Gorevic acquired 2,000 shares of Kemper stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $49.14 per share, with a total value of $98,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 22,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,618.08. The trade was a 9.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 8,000 shares of company stock worth $432,845 over the last ninety days. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kemper Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:KMPR traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.98. The stock had a trading volume of 233,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,546. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.36. Kemper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.02 and a fifty-two week high of $73.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.30.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kemper Corporation will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kemper announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 12.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kemper Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMPR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Kemper in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Kemper from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of Kemper in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kemper from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Kemper to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kemper presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.