Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Holdings in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,371,402 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,760 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 3.70% of Kemper worth $157,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its position in Kemper by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,105,859 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $73,363,000 after purchasing an additional 574,730 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Kemper by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 543,044 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $36,080,000 after buying an additional 28,807 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kemper by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 425,221 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,252,000 after buying an additional 28,196 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Kemper by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 371,144 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $24,659,000 after buying an additional 36,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Kemper during the fourth quarter worth about $23,325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on KMPR. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Kemper from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kemper from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $81.60.

Kemper Price Performance

Kemper stock traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $59.00. The company had a trading volume of 462,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Kemper Co. has a 12-month low of $53.57 and a 12-month high of $73.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $63.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.43.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.40. Kemper had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 6.85%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kemper Co. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Kemper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Kemper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Kemper's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.07%.

About Kemper

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance.