Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $18.07 Million in Kemper Corporation $KMPR

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 591,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $18,074,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Kemper by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kemper by 9.2% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Kemper by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,863 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kemper by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,737 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Kemper by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,969 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMPR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Kemper from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Kemper from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Kemper in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $51.75.

Kemper Price Performance

Shares of KMPR opened at $26.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. Kemper Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.69 and a 1-year high of $64.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 43.23 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.86.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Kemper had a return on equity of 4.80% and a net margin of 0.89%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kemper Corporation will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is 206.45%.

Kemper Profile

Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) is a diversified insurance holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Formed through the rebranding of Unitrin in 2010, Kemper has established a nationwide presence by offering a broad array of property and casualty insurance products. The company distributes its products through independent agents, brokers and direct-to-consumer channels, serving both individual policyholders and commercial clients.

The personal insurance segment provides coverage for automobiles, homeowners, renters and umbrella lines, while the commercial business focuses on liability, workers’ compensation and specialty property solutions tailored to small and mid-sized enterprises.