Short Interest in Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Expands By 8.1%

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 824,100 shares, an increase of 8.1% from the October 31st total of 762,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 273,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:HMN traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.25. 128,245 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 240,910. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.45. Horace Mann Educators has a fifty-two week low of $31.81 and a fifty-two week high of $43.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.30.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.87 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. Horace Mann Educators's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Horace Mann Educators Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Horace Mann Educators's payout ratio is currently 54.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $12,613,747.74. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $237,078.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at $801,918.56. The trade was a 22.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,751 shares of company stock worth $2,114,775 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Horace Mann Educators

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Horace Mann Educators by 13.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,942,494 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $104,194,000 after acquiring an additional 359,083 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 954,080 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,351,000 after buying an additional 22,358 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 336.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,012 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,446,000 after buying an additional 53,961 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,633,717 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $57,098,000 after buying an additional 20,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 67.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,194 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 5,704 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Horace Mann Educators from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Four 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 company 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.