CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNO. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price objective on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Jeanne L. Linnenbringer sold 3,919 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total value of $215,976.09. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,444,377.99. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen J. Detoro sold 5,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $328,735.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,009,124. This trade represents a 14.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,043 shares of company stock valued at $7,071,087. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 38.4% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 75.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

CNO stock traded down $0.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $54.85. 161,722 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 740,168. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.69. CNO Financial Group has a twelve month low of $38.22 and a twelve month high of $57.59.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.29. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 6.02%.The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.45 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that CNO Financial Group will post 4.74 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 24.74%.

About CNO Financial Group

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.