Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 61,376 Shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 140,226 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 61,376 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kemper were worth $8,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Kemper by 254.0% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 56,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,491,000 after purchasing an additional 40,895 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kemper in the third quarter valued at approximately $289,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Kemper by 7.2% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,036 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Kemper by 47.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,885 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 4,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Kemper by 1.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 89,356 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Kemper in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Kemper from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com raised Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kemper from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Kemper from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.20.

Kemper Stock Performance

NYSE:KMPR opened at $70.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Kemper Co. has a 12-month low of $40.93 and a 12-month high of $71.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 0.85.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Kemper had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 5.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.44) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Kemper Co. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Kemper’s payout ratio is currently 29.52%.

About Kemper

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.