Horace Mann Educators Co. (NYSE:HMN) Short Interest Up 8.1% in November

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 4,000 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total transaction of $148,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 292,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,886,592.64. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Beverley J. Mcclure sold 5,634 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $237,078.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $801,918.56. This trade represents a 22.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,751 shares of company stock worth $2,114,775. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Horace Mann Educators

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HMN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 30,454 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after buying an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 270.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 22,305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 16,278 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Arjuna Capital grew its holdings in shares of Horace Mann Educators by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 78,465 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. 99.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Horace Mann Educators Price Performance

NYSE:HMN traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $40.95. The company had a trading volume of 41,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 240,530. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.45. 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 has a 52 week low of $31.81 and a 52 week high of $43.26.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $412.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.87 million. Horace Mann Educators had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 8.14%. Horace Mann Educators’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Horace Mann Educators will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on HMN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Horace Mann Educators from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.67.

Horace Mann Educators Company Profile

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.