CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.80, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of CNO Financial Group stock traded up $0.84 during trading on Thursday, hitting $55.22. 651,375 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 942,339. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $54.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.40. CNO Financial Group has a 12-month low of $38.99 and a 12-month high of $57.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price objective on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeanne Linnenbringer sold 6,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.99, for a total value of $360,734.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,879,998.12. This represents a 16.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeremy Williams sold 4,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $244,293.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 62,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,435,749.01. This represents a 6.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 47,995 shares of company stock worth $2,641,336. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

CNO Financial Group, Inc is a holding company for a group of insurance and financial services businesses focused on serving middle-income Americans, particularly individuals approaching or in retirement. Through its operating companies, CNO provides products designed to help customers protect income, manage health care expenses and prepare for retirement.

CNO’s principal brands include Bankers Life, Colonial Penn and Washington National. Its offerings include life insurance, annuities, supplemental health insurance, Medicare supplement insurance and other insurance products.