Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) Short Interest Update

Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 939,000 shares, a drop of 7.0% from the September 15th total of 1,010,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 340,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMPR. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Kemper by 872.8% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 88,025 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,451,000 after acquiring an additional 78,976 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of Kemper by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 791,145 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,988,000 after acquiring an additional 23,285 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kemper by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,203,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $301,935,000 after acquiring an additional 28,095 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Kemper by 30.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 476,049 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,478,000 after purchasing an additional 110,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Kemper by 65.2% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 623,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,012,000 after purchasing an additional 246,184 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Stock Performance

NYSE:KMPR traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.96. The stock had a trading volume of 273,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,251. Kemper has a 1-year low of $38.52 and a 1-year high of $65.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.67 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.13.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.23. Kemper had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.11%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kemper will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is 158.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on KMPR shares. Raymond James upped their target price on Kemper from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kemper from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kemper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 8th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kemper in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Kemper from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kemper currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.20.

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.