Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) was the target of a large growth in short interest in 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 daily volume of 254,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Horace Mann Educators news, 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 transaction of $237,078.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $801,918.56. This represents a 22.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $167,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 300,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,613,747.74. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,751 shares of company stock worth $2,114,775 in the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1,798.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 949 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Trading Up 0.2 %

Horace Mann Educators stock opened at $39.23 on Thursday. Horace Mann Educators has a 12 month low of $31.81 and a 12 month high of $43.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.39.

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

Horace Mann Educators Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Horace Mann Educators from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.67.

Horace Mann Educators Company Profile

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.