Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

NOTE 18. SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Common Stock Issuance

Kemper is authorized to issue 20 million shares of $0.10 par value preferred stock and 100 million shares of $0.10 par value common stock. No preferred shares were issued or outstanding at December 31, 2024 and 2023. There were 63,840,442 shares and 64,111,555 shares of common stock outstanding at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Common Stock Repurchases

On May 6, 2020, Kemper’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $200.0 million of Kemper common stock, in addition to the $133.3 million remaining under the August 6, 2014 authorization, bringing the remaining share repurchase authorization to approximately $333.3 million. As of December 31, 2024, the remaining share repurchase authorization was $132.8 million under the repurchase program.

During the year ended 2024, Kemper repurchased and retired approximately 637,000 shares of its common stock under its share repurchase authorization for an aggregate cost of $38.9 million and an average cost per share of $61.12. During the years ended 2023 and 2022, Kemper did not repurchase any of its common stock.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

During the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, the Company issued 61,000, 89,000, and 102,000 shares under the Kemper Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”), respectively, at an average discounted price of $52.72, $40.79, and $40.83 per share. Compensation costs charged against income were $0.6 million, $0.6 million, and $0.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively.

Dividends

Kemper issued dividends and dividend equivalents of $80.1 million, $80.1 million, and $80.4 million during 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively, of which $80.1 million, $80.1 million, and $79.7 million, respectively, was paid to shareholders. Except for certain financial covenants under Kemper’s credit agreement or during any period in which Kemper elects to defer interest payments, there are no restrictions on Kemper’s ability to pay dividends to its shareholders. Certain financial covenants, namely minimum net worth and a maximum debt to total capitalization ratio, under Kemper’s credit agreement could limit the amount of dividends that Kemper may pay to shareholders. Kemper had the ability to pay $0.6 billion, $0.5 billion, and $0.8 billion in dividends without restrictions to its shareholders and still be in compliance with all financial covenants under its credit agreement at December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively.