StockNews.com Lowers CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) to Hold

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 1.0 %

CNO stock opened at $25.42 on Friday. 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 has a 12-month low of $19.95 and a 12-month high of $28.39. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.80 and its 200 day moving average is $26.12.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.33. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 6.67%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $934.05 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $285,426.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 192,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,064,652.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Karen Detoro sold 1,282 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $34,614.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 79,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,539. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $285,426.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 192,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,064,652.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,590 shares of company stock worth $4,116,255 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNO. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 60,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 6,281 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 191.0% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 36,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $936,000 after purchasing an additional 24,066 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 38.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 141,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,540,000 after purchasing an additional 39,101 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,142,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 7.9% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 44,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

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.