Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR – Get Rating) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 463,861 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 24,675 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kemper were worth $22,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Kemper by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 16,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 3.1% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 1.8% during the third quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 13,969 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 5.8% during the third quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 5,370 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 34,131 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,679,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kemper

In other Kemper news, EVP Matthew A. Hunton sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $159,075.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,013 shares in the company, valued at $909,590.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on KMPR. Credit Suisse Group upgraded Kemper from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Kemper from $62.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Kemper from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kemper in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Kemper in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kemper presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.25.

Kemper Stock Performance

Shares of KMPR opened at $44.49 on Monday. Kemper Co. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $68.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.80.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The insurance provider reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.13) by $0.11. Kemper had a negative return on equity of 6.24% and a negative net margin of 5.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.94) earnings per share.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. Kemper’s payout ratio is currently -27.68%.

Kemper Company Profile

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Kemper Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the property and casualty insurance, and life and health insurance businesses. It operates through the following segments: Specialty Property and Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property and Casualty Insurance, and Life and Health Insurance. The Specialty Property and Casualty Insurance segment provides personal and commercial automobile insurance.