CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Piper Sandler currently has $29.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

CNO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CNO Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $27.50.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

CNO stock opened at $25.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.68 and its 200-day moving average is $26.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.03. CNO Financial Group has a 1 year low of $19.95 and a 1 year high of $28.39.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $934.05 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Equities research analysts expect that CNO Financial Group will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is 24.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $285,426.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 192,134 shares in the company, valued at $5,064,652.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 9,402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.62, for a total value of $250,281.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,396,426.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $285,426.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 192,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,064,652.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,590 shares of company stock worth $4,116,255 in the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in CNO Financial Group by 4.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,806,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,739,000 after purchasing an additional 626,454 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CNO Financial Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,422,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,203,000 after buying an additional 198,429 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,618,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,544,000 after acquiring an additional 102,569 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,226,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,116,000 after acquiring an additional 76,514 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 4.2% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,200,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,830,000 after acquiring an additional 89,527 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.