Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) Raises Dividend to $0.32 Per Share

Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share by the insurance provider on Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is a positive change from Kemper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31.

Kemper has a payout ratio of 19.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Kemper to earn $5.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.7%.

Kemper Stock Performance

Shares of Kemper stock opened at $68.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.42. 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 has a 12 month low of $54.11 and a 12 month high of $73.01.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.40. Kemper had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 5.86%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kemper will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KMPR. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kemper in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Kemper from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.40.

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.