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

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.60.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNO shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CNO Financial Group from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 15,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $424,343.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $893,010.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 15,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $424,343.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,611 shares in the company, valued at $893,010.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 3,197 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $89,516.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 84,880 shares in the company, valued at $2,376,640. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,421 shares of company stock worth $975,861 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNO. Norges Bank bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,295,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,568,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 1,862.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 315,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,673,000 after buying an additional 299,516 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 587,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,393,000 after buying an additional 290,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $4,071,000. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CNO opened at $29.08 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.26. CNO Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.27 and a 12 month high of $29.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $935.76 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.77% and a net margin of 9.07%. CNO Financial Group’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a positive change from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.66%.

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.