Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Kemper Corporation $KMPR

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) by 125.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 284,458 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 158,488 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.48% of Kemper worth $8,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in shares of Kemper by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 223,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,516,000 after purchasing an additional 87,272 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 1,888.9% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 214,186 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 203,417 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kemper by 361.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 78,507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,183,000 after buying an additional 61,479 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kemper in the first quarter worth approximately $1,622,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Kemper by 7,146.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 51,229 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 50,522 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Kemper Trading Down 0.1%

Kemper stock opened at $28.77 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.01 and a 200 day moving average of $31.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40 and a beta of 1.04. Kemper Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.69 and a 12-month high of $62.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.60). Kemper had a return on equity of 4.80% and a net margin of 0.89%.The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Kemper’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Kemper Corporation will post 1.94 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Kemper’s 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.