Franklin Resources Inc. Has $135.89 Million Position in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,463,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 521,437 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Horace Mann Educators worth $135,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,873 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 389.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 0.4 %

Horace Mann Educators stock opened at $43.60 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 1-year low of $31.81 and a 1-year high of $43.69. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 0.25.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Horace Mann Educators’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Horace Mann Educators’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.37, for a total value of $149,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 294,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,262.72. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.