CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Insider Sells $360,734.40 in Stock

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) insider Jeanne Linnenbringer sold 6,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.99, for a total value of $360,734.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE CNO opened at $56.67 on Friday. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.22 and a 52 week high of $57.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.83.

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

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 24.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNO. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $48.00 price target on CNO Financial Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded CNO Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price objective on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $682,433,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 4,851.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,354,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,995,000 after buying an additional 5,246,791 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,470,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,456,000 after buying an additional 8,053 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,870,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,461,000 after buying an additional 317,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,492,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,282,000 after buying an additional 114,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group is an Indiana‐based holding company that offers a range of insurance and retirement solutions through its operating subsidiaries. Its primary business activities include life insurance, annuities, and supplemental health insurance products designed to help individuals plan for retirement and manage health‐related expenses. The company serves middle‐income Americans, with particular emphasis on senior customers seeking guaranteed coverage and reliable income streams.

Originally founded as Conseco in 1979, the company underwent a financial restructuring and rebranded as CNO Financial Group in 2010.