CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Insider Sells 4,362 Shares

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) insider Jeremy Williams sold 4,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total value of $243,050.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 61,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,401,204.52. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

CNO traded down $0.23 on Wednesday, hitting $55.49. 1,335,425 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 741,348. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.22 and a 12 month high of $57.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.51.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $999.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 38.4% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 72.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 75.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 target price on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Evercore set a $48.00 target price on CNO Financial Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

CNO Financial Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. Through its operating companies, CNO provides insurance and related financial products designed primarily for middle-income Americans, including individuals and families approaching or living in retirement.

CNO’s businesses include Bankers Life, which offers life insurance, annuities and long-term care products through agents; Colonial Penn, which markets life insurance directly to consumers; and Washington National, which provides supplemental health and life insurance products.