Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Short Interest Update

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

Horace Mann Educators Stock Performance

HMN traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.02. 31,091 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 240,489. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.30. Horace Mann Educators has a 1-year low of $31.81 and a 1-year 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.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 6.55%. The company had revenue of $412.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. Horace Mann Educators’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 19,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $801,918.56. This represents a 22.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 42,117 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.06, for a total transaction of $1,560,856.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 294,402 shares in the company, valued at $10,910,538.12. This represents a 12.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,751 shares of company stock valued at $2,114,775. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HMN. Quarry LP increased its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 1,798.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 949 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 899 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 142.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the second quarter valued at $35,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HMN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Horace Mann Educators from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.