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

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

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on CNO Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 25,500 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $1,020,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 169,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,066.84. This trade represents a 13.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 40,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,692,792.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 244,943 shares in the company, valued at $10,162,685.07. This represents a 14.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,512 shares of company stock valued at $6,497,710 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,285,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,474,000 after buying an additional 130,342 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,687,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,015,000 after purchasing an additional 282,611 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,899,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,676,000 after purchasing an additional 107,589 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,274,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,419,000 after purchasing an additional 372,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 648,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CNO stock opened at $38.29 on Monday. CNO Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $25.75 and a fifty-two week high of $43.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.55. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 0.90.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 9.08%. Analysts predict that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.11%.

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.