Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) Stock Gets Downgrade from Zacks Research

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on HMN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Horace Mann Educators from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Horace Mann Educators in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Horace Mann Educators Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE HMN opened at $45.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.08. Horace Mann Educators has a 1 year low of $41.29 and a 1 year high of $55.56. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.15 and its 200 day moving average is $48.34.

Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $443.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.70 million. Horace Mann Educators had a return on equity of 14.08% and a net margin of 10.15%. Horace Mann Educators’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Horace Mann Educators will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Horace Mann Educators

In other Horace Mann Educators news, Director Perry G. Hines sold 3,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total value of $169,036.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,118 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,661.96. This trade represents a 11.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marita Zuraitis sold 7,500 shares of Horace Mann Educators stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.99, for a total value of $382,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 299,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,278,082.71. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 20,941 shares of company stock worth $1,078,975 over the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Horace Mann Educators in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $304,006,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Horace Mann Educators by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,184,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,243,000 after purchasing an additional 12,556 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Horace Mann Educators in the second quarter worth $72,363,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the second quarter worth $29,287,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Horace Mann Educators in the second quarter worth $20,061,000. Institutional investors own 99.28% of the company’s stock.

About Horace Mann Educators

Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE: HMN) is an insurance and financial services company focused on serving educators and other employees of public schools. Through its subsidiaries and affiliated agencies, the company provides insurance products and retirement solutions designed to address the needs of the education community.

Its offerings include automobile and homeowners insurance, life insurance, annuities, and other supplemental insurance products. Horace Mann also provides retirement products and services intended to help educators plan for long-term financial needs.