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

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.3333.

Several brokerages have commented on CNO. Jefferies Financial Group raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CNO opened at $43.04 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.26 and its 200-day moving average is $40.36. CNO Financial Group has a 1-year low of $34.63 and a 1-year high of $44.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.84.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $101.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.49%.

Insider Activity

In other CNO Financial Group news, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 31,430 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.99, for a total value of $1,319,745.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 195,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,226,932.74. The trade was a 13.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 9,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total transaction of $395,455.80. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 73,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,149,503.20. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,121,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,429,000 after purchasing an additional 183,493 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,077,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,057,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 70.9% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,546,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,673,000 after buying an additional 641,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 141.1% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 86,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,324,000 after buying an additional 50,411 shares in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group is an Indiana?based holding company that offers a range of insurance and retirement solutions through its operating subsidiaries. Its primary business activities include life insurance, annuities, and supplemental health insurance products designed to help individuals plan for retirement and manage health?related expenses. The company serves middle?income Americans, with particular emphasis on senior customers seeking guaranteed coverage and reliable income streams.

Originally founded as Conseco in 1979, the company underwent a financial restructuring and rebranded as CNO Financial Group in 2010.