Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 314,876 Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,073,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 314,876 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of CNO Financial Group worth $477,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 353.0% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group during the third quarter worth $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in CNO Financial Group by 123.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 39.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 637.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In related news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.17, for a total value of $388,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 35,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,513,626.54. The trade was a 20.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 9,283 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total value of $395,455.80. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 73,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,149,503.20. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 226,431 shares of company stock valued at $9,715,996. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNO. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.25.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CNO stock opened at $42.34 on Thursday. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.63 and a twelve month high of $44.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99 and a beta of 0.84.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.27. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 4.94%.The firm had revenue of $101.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.49%.

CNO Financial Group Profile

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.