Savant Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Kemper Corporation $KMPR

Savant Capital LLC reduced its position in Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) by 54.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,885 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,449 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Kemper were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMPR. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kemper by 7.5% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,263 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after buying an additional 2,461 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Kemper by 74.7% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,334 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 15,106 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Kemper by 63.3% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 30,401 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,780 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Kemper by 17.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 500,385 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,451,000 after purchasing an additional 75,164 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kemper by 1.7% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 104,169 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,964,000 after buying an additional 1,762 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Price Performance

KMPR stock opened at $38.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.84 and a 200-day moving average of $55.90. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Kemper Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.91 and a 12-month high of $73.01.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($1.00). Kemper had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 7.18%.The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kemper Corporation will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 12.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is 33.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on KMPR shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kemper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Kemper in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Kemper from $50.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Kemper in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.50.

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.