Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Short Interest Up 6.7% in December

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 721,100 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the November 30th total of 675,900 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 254,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Horace Mann Educators Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE HMN traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.23. 105,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 200,202. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. Horace Mann Educators has a 1-year low of $31.81 and a 1-year high of $43.26. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $40.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.37.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $412.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $293.87 million. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 6.55%. The business's revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Horace Mann Educators's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HMN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Horace Mann Educators from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $167,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 300,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,613,747.74. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $237,078.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $801,918.56. The trade was a 22.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,751 shares of company stock worth $2,114,775. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1,798.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 949 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 142.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 920 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 60.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,671 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its position in Horace Mann Educators by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. 99.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.