Kemper (KMPR) vs. Its Rivals Critical Survey

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) is one of 311 publicly-traded companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Kemper to similar businesses based on the strength of its profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kemper and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kemper	$4.79 billion	$143.30 million	-3.95
Kemper Competitors	$15.39 billion	$1.70 billion	34.44

Kemper’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Kemper. Kemper is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.2% of Kemper shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.9% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Kemper shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Kemper and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kemper	4	2	2	0	1.75
Kemper Competitors	3321	15621	16448	737	2.40

Kemper currently has a consensus target price of $37.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.59%. As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 6.38%. Given Kemper’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Kemper is more favorable than its competitors.

Volatility & Risk

Kemper has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kemper’s competitors have a beta of -1.51, suggesting that their average stock price is 251% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Kemper and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kemper	-10.84%	2.89%	0.60%
Kemper Competitors	9.24%	-9.74%	4.23%

Dividends

Kemper pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Kemper pays out -15.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 30.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Kemper has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Kemper is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Kemper competitors beat Kemper on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Kemper Company Profile

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. It provides preferred and specialty automobile, homeowners, renters, fire, umbrella, general liability, and various other property and casualty insurance to individuals, as well as commercial automobile insurance to businesses. The company also offers life insurance, including permanent and term insurance; and supplemental accident and health insurance products, such as Medicare supplement insurance, fixed hospital indemnity, home health care, specified disease, and accident-only plans to individuals in rural, suburban, and urban areas. It distributes its products through independent agents and brokers. The company was formerly known as Unitrin, Inc. and changed its name to Kemper Corporation in August 2011. Kemper Corporation was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.