Foundry Partners LLC Acquires 95,812 Shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 1,452.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,407 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 95,812 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Kemper were worth $6,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kemper by 141.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in shares of Kemper in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kemper by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Kemper during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Kemper during the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. 86.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on KMPR. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Kemper from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.60.

Kemper Trading Down 3.0 %

KMPR opened at $64.67 on Friday. Kemper Co. has a 52 week low of $54.11 and a 52 week high of $73.01. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.40. Kemper had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 14.11%. Analysts forecast that Kemper Co. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Kemper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. This is a positive change from Kemper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.07%.

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.