CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $56.00

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.00.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CNO shares. Evercore set a $48.00 price objective on CNO Financial Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings raised CNO Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price objective on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CNO opened at $53.49 on Friday. CNO Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $38.22 and a fifty-two week high of $57.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.12. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $999.45 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary Bhojwani sold 86,048 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total value of $4,429,751.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 174,264 shares in the company, valued at $8,971,110.72. The trade was a 33.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeanne Linnenbringer sold 6,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.99, for a total transaction of $360,734.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,879,998.12. This trade represents a 16.10% 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 134,043 shares of company stock worth $7,071,087 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 38.4% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 75.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

CNO Financial Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. Through its operating companies, CNO provides insurance and related financial products designed primarily for middle-income Americans, including individuals and families approaching or living in retirement.

CNO’s businesses include Bankers Life, which offers life insurance, annuities and long-term care products through agents; Colonial Penn, which markets life insurance directly to consumers; and Washington National, which provides supplemental health and life insurance products.