Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR - Free Report) by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,226 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 61,376 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Kemper worth $8,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMPR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,429,101 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $144,115,000 after purchasing an additional 30,882 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Kemper by 3.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,136,621 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $130,868,000 after buying an additional 79,622 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kemper by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,881 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $61,933,000 after acquiring an additional 9,412 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Kemper by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 838,085 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $51,333,000 after acquiring an additional 375,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in shares of Kemper by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 741,775 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $44,010,000 after acquiring an additional 19,982 shares during the period. 86.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kemper Price Performance

KMPR traded up $0.51 on Wednesday, reaching $66.44. 331,274 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 369,530. Kemper Co. has a twelve month low of $48.33 and a twelve month high of $73.01. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $67.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.40.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.28. Kemper had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 5.86%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.44) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Kemper Co. will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Kemper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KMPR shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Kemper from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Kemper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Kemper in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.40.

Kemper Profile

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.