CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

CNO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company.

Insider Activity

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 25,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $1,020,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 169,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,066.84. This trade represents a 13.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 40,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total transaction of $1,636,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 204,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,186,134.30. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,512 shares of company stock worth $6,497,710 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 9,096 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $903,000. Institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE CNO opened at $38.65 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.19. CNO Financial Group has a 1-year low of $26.36 and a 1-year high of $43.20.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 9.08%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $975.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.78%.

About CNO Financial Group

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.