CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

CNO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:CNO opened at $38.74 on Friday. CNO Financial Group has a 12-month low of $26.36 and a 12-month high of $43.20. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $975.80 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 9.08%. CNO Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is a boost from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 23.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 11,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.51, for a total transaction of $469,063.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,561.49. The trade was a 14.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 40,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,692,792.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 244,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,162,685.07. The trade was a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,512 shares of company stock worth $6,497,710. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNO. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 368.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 95.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 89.7% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CNO Financial Group

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.