Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on KMPR. Raymond James upped their target price on Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. TD Cowen upped 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, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Kemper in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.40.

Kemper Stock Up 0.1 %

Kemper stock opened at $64.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.88. Kemper has a 1-year low of $49.02 and a 1-year high of $73.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.44) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kemper will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Kemper’s payout ratio is currently 29.52%.

Institutional Trading of Kemper

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kemper by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 19,429 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Kemper by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Kemper by 102.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 201,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,358,000 after purchasing an additional 102,339 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Kemper in the third quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kemper during the third quarter worth $278,000. 86.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.