Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

KMPR has been the topic of a number of other reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kemper in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Kemper from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kemper presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.00.

Kemper Price Performance

NYSE:KMPR opened at $64.19 on Tuesday. Kemper has a 12-month low of $47.12 and a 12-month high of $73.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.28. Kemper had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 5.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.44) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Kemper will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Kemper’s payout ratio is currently 29.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kemper

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kemper by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,429,101 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,115,000 after purchasing an additional 30,882 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Kemper by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,136,621 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $130,868,000 after buying an additional 79,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kemper by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $61,933,000 after buying an additional 9,412 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 838,085 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,333,000 after acquiring an additional 375,324 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in Kemper by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 741,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,010,000 after purchasing an additional 19,982 shares in the last quarter. 86.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.