Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KMPR. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Kemper by 83.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kemper by 104.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 18,834 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 9,616 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Kemper by 13.1% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,722 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kemper by 195.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 6,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Kemper by 114.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on KMPR. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kemper in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Kemper from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kemper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kemper from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Kemper from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.20.

Kemper Stock Performance

KMPR stock opened at $63.64 on Friday. Kemper Co. has a twelve month low of $38.52 and a twelve month high of $65.93. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.49 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Kemper had a net margin of 1.11% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Kemper Co. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is presently -65.26%.

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.