Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Short Interest Update

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 484,800 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the March 15th total of 577,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 217,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company's shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HMN shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Horace Mann Educators news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total transaction of $120,693.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,643 shares in the company, valued at $584,738.98. The trade was a 17.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $215,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 320,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,808,233.59. This represents a 1.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,816 shares of company stock worth $485,624 over the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HMN. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 336.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,012 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,446,000 after acquiring an additional 53,961 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 954,080 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $33,351,000 after purchasing an additional 22,358 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,942,494 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $104,194,000 after purchasing an additional 359,083 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 223,512 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,812,000 after purchasing an additional 21,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE HMN traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.70. 235,189 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 242,377. Horace Mann Educators has a 12-month low of $31.81 and a 12-month high of $43.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 0.21. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $41.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.99.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.58. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 10.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Horace Mann Educators's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Horace Mann Educators's payout ratio is 56.45%.

About Horace Mann Educators

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.