Educator-focused insurance company Horace Mann Educators (NYSE: HMN) fell short of the market’s revenue expectations in Q1 CY2026 as sales rose 3.1% year on year to $429.3 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.28 per share was 16.4% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Founded in 1945 and named after the 19th-century education reformer known as the "father of American public education," Horace Mann Educators (NYSE: HMN) is an insurance company that specializes in providing auto, property, life, and retirement products tailored for educators and other public service employees.

Revenue Growth

Insurers earn revenue three ways. The core insurance business itself, often called underwriting and represented in the income statement as premiums earned, is one way. Investment income from investing the “float” (premiums collected upfront not yet paid out as claims) in assets such as fixed-income assets and equities is the second way. Fees from various sources such as policy administration, annuities, or other value-added services is the third. Regrettably, Horace Mann Educators’s revenue grew at a tepid 5.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This fell short of our benchmark for the insurance sector and is a tough starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. Horace Mann Educators’s annualized revenue growth of 6.1% over the last two years aligns with its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was consistently weak. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, Horace Mann Educators’s revenue grew by 3.1% year on year to $429.3 million, falling short of Wall Street’s estimates.

Net premiums earned made up 71.3% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning insurance operations are Horace Mann Educators’s largest source of revenue.

Our experience and research show the market cares primarily about an insurer’s net premiums earned growth as investment and fee income are considered more susceptible to market volatility and economic cycles.

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Book Value Per Share (BVPS)

Insurance companies are balance sheet businesses, collecting premiums upfront and paying out claims over time. The float – premiums collected but not yet paid out – are invested, creating an asset base supported by a liability structure. Book value captures this dynamic by measuring:

• Assets (investment portfolio, cash, reinsurance recoverables) - liabilities (claim reserves, debt, future policy benefits)

BVPS is essentially the residual value for shareholders.

We therefore consider BVPS very important to track for insurers and a metric that sheds light on business quality because it reflects long-term capital growth and is harder to manipulate than more commonly-used metrics like EPS.

Horace Mann Educators’s BVPS declined at a 2.3% annual clip over the last five years. However, BVPS growth has accelerated recently, growing by 10.9% annually over the last two years from $29.57 to $36.40 per share.

Key Takeaways from Horace Mann Educators’s Q1 Results

It was good to see Horace Mann Educators beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its revenue missed. Overall, this print had some key positives. The stock remained flat at $45.65 immediately after reporting.

Is Horace Mann Educators an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).