CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings 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 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.00.

CNO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of CNO opened at $38.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.96. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.89. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 17.20%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $975.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 11,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.51, for a total value of $469,063.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,561.49. This represents a 14.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 2,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.18, for a total transaction of $84,908.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,994 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,606.92. This represents a 6.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,912 shares of company stock valued at $1,125,523 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CNO Financial Group by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 9,096 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $903,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

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.