Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 1,012 Shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 83.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Kemper were worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kemper by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,203,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $301,935,000 after purchasing an additional 28,095 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Kemper by 1.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,429,101 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,115,000 after acquiring an additional 30,882 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kemper by 3.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 791,145 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,988,000 after acquiring an additional 23,285 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kemper by 2.8% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 741,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,010,000 after acquiring an additional 19,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Kemper by 65.2% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 623,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,012,000 after acquiring an additional 246,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE KMPR opened at $63.02 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.17 and a beta of 0.85. Kemper Co. has a 12-month low of $38.52 and a 12-month high of $65.93.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.23. Kemper had a net margin of 1.11% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kemper Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is presently -65.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KMPR shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kemper in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Kemper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 8th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Kemper from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Kemper from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Kemper from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kemper has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.20.

Kemper Company 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.