Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN - Free Report) by 13.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,942,494 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 359,083 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 7.22% of Horace Mann Educators worth $104,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 142.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 920 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Horace Mann Educators in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 60.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,671 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. 99.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total transaction of $148,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 292,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,886,592.64. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $237,078.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $801,918.56. This represents a 22.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,751 shares of company stock valued at $2,114,775. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HMN traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $41.59. 191,971 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 240,762. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 0.30. Horace Mann Educators Co. has a 1 year low of $31.81 and a 1 year high of $43.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The company's 50-day moving average is $39.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.93.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 8.14%. The firm had revenue of $412.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $293.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Horace Mann Educators's payout ratio is 54.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Horace Mann Educators from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Horace Mann Educators currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.67.

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.