Ethic Inc. Invests $265,000 in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Ethic Inc. bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 7,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 236.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 922,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,323,000 after buying an additional 648,591 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $14,270,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $13,975,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,274,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,419,000 after buying an additional 372,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,687,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,015,000 after buying an additional 282,611 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CNO. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on CNO Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.00.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CNO opened at $38.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.99. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.36 and a 1 year high of $43.20.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.78%.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 3,393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $141,725.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,140.23. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 2,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.18, for a total value of $84,908.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,606.92. The trade was a 6.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,512 shares of company stock worth $6,497,710. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CNO Financial Group 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.