Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Stock

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) had its target price upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $42.00 to $44.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CNO. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (up previously from $44.00) on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CNO stock opened at $40.59 on Wednesday. CNO Financial Group has a 1 year low of $24.92 and a 1 year high of $41.54. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.32. 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 (NYSE:CNO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.25. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.21% and a net margin of 9.08%. Sell-side analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.11%.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In other CNO Financial Group news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 1,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total transaction of $56,421.68. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 79,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,037,645.92. This represents a 1.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CIO Eric R. Johnson sold 3,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $155,500.02. Following the sale, the executive now owns 631,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,698,781.96. The trade was a 0.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,962 shares of company stock worth $380,717 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 141.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $344,000. 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.