Kestrel Investment Management Corp Sells 28,100 Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Kestrel Investment Management Corp cut its position in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 158,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,100 shares during the period. CNO Financial Group comprises approximately 3.0% of Kestrel Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Kestrel Investment Management Corp’s holdings in CNO Financial Group were worth $4,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,205,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,806,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,739,000 after purchasing an additional 626,454 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 97.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 587,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,393,000 after purchasing an additional 290,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,189,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,964,000 after purchasing an additional 266,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 529.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 279,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,030,000 after purchasing an additional 235,400 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 7,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $195,211.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,751,561.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 7,325 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $195,211.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,751,561.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $285,426.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 192,134 shares in the company, valued at $5,064,652.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,590 shares of company stock worth $4,116,255 in the last ninety days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of CNO stock traded up $0.50 on Friday, reaching $26.19. 829,804 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,121. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.03. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.95 and a 52 week high of $28.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $934.05 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 6.67%. As a group, analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 24.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler raised CNO Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

CNO Financial Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, insurance products, and financial services for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It offers Medicare supplement, supplemental health, and long-term care insurance policies; life insurance; and annuities, as well as Medicare advantage plans to individuals through phone, online, mail, and face-to-face.