Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Reduces Stock Holdings in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 185,611 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,743 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.29% of Kemper worth $12,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kemper by 565.8% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 41,094 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after acquiring an additional 34,922 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Kemper by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 108,355 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,637,000 after purchasing an additional 7,127 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Kemper by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 543,044 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,080,000 after purchasing an additional 28,807 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Kemper by 44.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Kemper by 102.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 201,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,358,000 after buying an additional 102,339 shares during the period. 86.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMPR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Kemper from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.60.

Kemper Price Performance

KMPR opened at $66.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Kemper Co. has a 12-month low of $54.11 and a 12-month high of $73.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.60.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.40. Kemper had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 14.11%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kemper Co. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from Kemper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.07%.

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.