CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $42.28 and last traded at $42.11, with a volume of 17728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNO. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (up from $44.00) on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.50.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.25. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 17.20%. On average, research analysts predict that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is 17.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total value of $168,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 72,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,734,328.96. The trade was a 5.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 40,800 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,692,792.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 244,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,162,685.07. This trade represents a 14.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,584 shares of company stock valued at $3,554,089 over the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNO. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 9,096 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in CNO Financial Group by 6.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,899,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,676,000 after acquiring an additional 107,589 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 848,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,569,000 after acquiring an additional 10,846 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 69.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 16,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 157,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,842,000 after acquiring an additional 8,689 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.