Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 82,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,252,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.20% of Horace Mann Educators at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,942,494 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $104,194,000 after purchasing an additional 359,083 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 203.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 329,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,944,000 after buying an additional 221,233 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the fourth quarter valued at $4,209,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Horace Mann Educators by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 498,149 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,542,000 after acquiring an additional 70,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 159,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,256,000 after acquiring an additional 54,443 shares during the period. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.37, for a total value of $149,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 294,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,887.88. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $108,060.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,262.72. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 0.4 %

HMN opened at $43.60 on Thursday. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.81 and a fifty-two week 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $40.95 and its 200 day moving average is $39.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 0.25.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.58. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. Research analysts expect that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend 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.