Financial Contrast: Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) vs. CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO)

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) and Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares CNO Financial Group and Horace Mann Educators’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNO Financial Group	6.41%	16.63%	1.13%
Horace Mann Educators	8.49%	14.23%	1.29%

Risk and Volatility

CNO Financial Group has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horace Mann Educators has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.4% of CNO Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of Horace Mann Educators shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of CNO Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Horace Mann Educators shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

CNO Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Horace Mann Educators pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. CNO Financial Group pays out 25.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Horace Mann Educators pays out 41.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. CNO Financial Group has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Horace Mann Educators has increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Horace Mann Educators is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares CNO Financial Group and Horace Mann Educators”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNO Financial Group	$4.45 billion	0.86	$404.00 million	$2.71	14.57
Horace Mann Educators	$1.60 billion	1.17	$102.80 million	$3.38	13.59

CNO Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Horace Mann Educators. Horace Mann Educators is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CNO Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for CNO Financial Group and Horace Mann Educators, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNO Financial Group	0	3	2	0	2.40
Horace Mann Educators	0	3	1	1	2.60

CNO Financial Group presently has a consensus price target of $43.40, indicating a potential upside of 9.91%. Horace Mann Educators has a consensus price target of $46.75, indicating a potential upside of 1.76%. Given CNO Financial Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CNO Financial Group is more favorable than Horace Mann Educators.

Summary

Horace Mann Educators beats CNO Financial Group on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company also focuses on sale of voluntary benefit life and health insurance products for businesses, associations, and other membership groups by interacting with customers at their place of employment. In addition, it provides fixed indexed annuities; fixed interest annuities, including fixed rate single and flexible premium deferred annuities; single premium immediate annuities; supplemental health products, such as specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity products; and long-term care plans primarily to retirees and older self-employed individuals in the middle-income market. Further, the company offers universal life and other interest-sensitive life products; and traditional life policies that include whole life, graded benefit life, term life, and single premium whole life products, as well as graded benefit life insurance products. It markets its products under the Bankers Life, Washington National, and Colonial Penn brand names. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

About Horace Mann Educators

Horace Mann Educators Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an insurance holding company in the United States. The company operates through Property & Casualty, Life & Retirement, and Supplemental & Group Benefits segments. Its Property & Casualty segment offers insurance products, including private passenger auto insurance, residential home insurance, and personal umbrella insurance; and provides auto coverages including liability and collision, and property coverage for homeowners and renters. The Life & Retirement segment markets tax-qualified fixed, fixed indexed, and variable annuities; and internal revenue code for educator, which allows public school employees and employees of other tax-exempt organizations, such as not-for-profit private schools, to utilize pretax income to make periodic contributions to a qualified retirement plan. The Supplemental & Group Benefits segment offers employer-sponsored products including accident, critical illness, limited-benefit fixed indemnity insurance, term life, and short-term and long-term disability, as well as worksite direct products, such as supplemental heart, cancer, disability, and accident coverage. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Springfield, Illinois.