Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lessened its stake in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 28,761 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Kemper were worth $1,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Kemper by 65.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 623,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,012,000 after buying an additional 246,184 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Kemper by 244.2% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 18,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 13,376 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in Kemper by 81.1% in the third 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. 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 worth $6,637,000 after acquiring an additional 7,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Kemper by 50.6% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 68,604 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,070,000 after purchasing an additional 23,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of KMPR stock opened at $70.64 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $65.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.47. Kemper Co. has a 1-year low of $46.41 and a 1-year high of $73.01. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Kemper had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.44) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Kemper Co. will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Kemper’s payout ratio is currently 29.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KMPR. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kemper from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Kemper in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.00.

Kemper 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.