CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price target on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:CNO opened at $55.39 on Friday. CNO Financial Group has a 12-month low of $38.99 and a 12-month high of $59.15. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.80. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 9.19%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Karen DeToro sold 5,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $328,735.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 36,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,009,124. This represents a 14.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeremy Williams sold 4,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $243,050.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 61,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,401,204.52. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 47,995 shares of company stock worth $2,641,336 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 156.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CNO Financial Group

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.