Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) Trading Down 4% – Time to Sell?

Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR)’s stock price dropped 4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $27.83 and last traded at $27.4950. 23,300 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 98% from the average daily volume of 1,060,819 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Kemper Trading Up 3.6%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41 and a beta of 1.04. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.60). The business had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Kemper had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 4.80%. Kemper’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kemper Corporation will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 206.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its holdings in Kemper by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 223,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,516,000 after purchasing an additional 87,272 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Kemper by 361.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 78,507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 61,479 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Kemper in the first quarter worth about $1,622,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in Kemper by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 58,467 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,370,000 after buying an additional 18,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Kemper by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 78,885 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 19,135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Company 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.