Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $823,000 in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,900 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Kemper during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Kemper during the 3rd quarter valued at $344,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Kemper by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 52,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 13,029 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kemper by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 399,700 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $16,799,000 after purchasing an additional 71,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New South Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Kemper by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 934,506 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $39,277,000 after purchasing an additional 158,188 shares in the last quarter. 86.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMPR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Kemper from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Kemper in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Kemper from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kemper from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Kemper in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.40.

Kemper Price Performance

Shares of KMPR traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $57.43. 635,260 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,921. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of -13.51 and a beta of 0.91. Kemper Co. has a one year low of $38.32 and a one year high of $64.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The insurance provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Kemper had a negative return on equity of 2.37% and a negative net margin of 5.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kemper Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Kemper's payout ratio is currently -29.18%.

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.