Short Interest in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Grows By 6.7%

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 721,100 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the November 30th total of 675,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 254,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Horace Mann Educators

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $167,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 300,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,613,747.74. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $237,078.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,057 shares in the company, valued at $801,918.56. This represents a 22.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,751 shares of company stock worth $2,114,775 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 22,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 142.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,444 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 60.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Performance

Shares of HMN stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.23. The company had a trading volume of 105,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,202. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.37. Horace Mann Educators has a one year low of $31.81 and a one year high of $43.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.30.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $412.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.87 million. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 8.14%. Horace Mann Educators’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio is 54.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Horace Mann Educators from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Horace Mann Educators has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.67.

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.