Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 7,021 Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Khrom Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kemper by 414.0% during the 1st quarter. Khrom Capital Management LLC now owns 425,262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,332,000 after acquiring an additional 342,519 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kemper by 1,336.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 340,948 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,228,000 after acquiring an additional 317,212 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Kemper by 815.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 301,524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,889,000 after acquiring an additional 268,569 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kemper by 254.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 349,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,398,000 after acquiring an additional 251,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Kemper by 65.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 623,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,012,000 after acquiring an additional 246,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of KMPR opened at $70.65 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.20. Kemper Co. has a twelve month low of $40.93 and a twelve month high of $70.83. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.44) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kemper Co. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Kemper from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Kemper in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Kemper from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kemper from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.20.

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.