CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Receives $25.80 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.25.

Several brokerages have recently commented on CNO. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Karen Detoro sold 1,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $34,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 79,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,539. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Karen Detoro sold 1,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $34,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 79,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,539. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total value of $551,662.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 293,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,023,732.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 149,812 shares of company stock worth $4,040,971. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNO. Quarry LP purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group during the first quarter valued at $26,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 95.8% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CNO opened at $26.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. CNO Financial Group has a 52-week low of $19.95 and a 52-week high of $28.39.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $934.05 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 6.67%. Research analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.90%.

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.