Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 577,700 shares, a decline of 13.4% from the February 28th total of 666,800 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 196,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Activity at Horace Mann Educators

In other news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $215,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 320,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,808,233.59. This represents a 1.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 2,816 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total value of $120,693.76. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $584,738.98. This trade represents a 17.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,816 shares of company stock valued at $485,624 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,004,806 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $196,339,000 after purchasing an additional 32,586 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,463,931 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $135,890,000 after acquiring an additional 521,437 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,659,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $104,340,000 after acquiring an additional 47,074 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Horace Mann Educators by 183.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,162,264 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $84,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,210 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 20,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HMN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Horace Mann Educators from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $43.67.

Horace Mann Educators Trading Down 1.5 %

HMN traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $40.80. The stock had a trading volume of 144,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 237,279. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.21. Horace Mann Educators has a 52 week low of $31.81 and a 52 week high of $43.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Horace Mann Educators will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

Horace Mann Educators Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Horace Mann Educators's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Horace Mann Educators's payout ratio is currently 56.45%.

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.