CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Earns Market Perform Rating from Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $38.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on CNO. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.17.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CNO Financial Group stock opened at $38.81 on Thursday. CNO Financial Group has a 52 week low of $24.92 and a 52 week high of $40.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.26.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.29. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $945.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. CNO Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CNO Financial Group will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 4,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $191,750.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 62,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,430.89. This represents a 7.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CIO Eric R. Johnson sold 3,978 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $24,698,781.96. This represents a 0.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,745 shares of company stock worth $572,467. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,899,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,676,000 after purchasing an additional 107,589 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 16,420 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 113.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,691,000 after acquiring an additional 116,617 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 28.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,040,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,526,000 after buying an additional 232,631 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.