Barclays PLC Buys 12,196 Shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) by 72.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,067 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Kemper were worth $1,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KMPR. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Kemper by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,010 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kemper by 54.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,681 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Kemper by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 55,494 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Kemper by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,065 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Kemper by 37.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,676 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of KMPR stock opened at $62.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.88. Kemper Co. has a 52-week low of $52.24 and a 52-week high of $73.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.71.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Kemper had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 5.86%. Kemper’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.44) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Kemper Co. will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Kemper

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.