Insider Selling: CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Insider Sells 11,060 Shares of Stock

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) insider Scott Goldberg sold 11,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.97, for a total transaction of $442,068.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 214,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,574,524.28. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 2.0%

CNO stock traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.53. The stock had a trading volume of 843,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 660,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.09. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.63 and a 52-week high of $44.85.

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

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.7%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNO. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,302,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,157,000 after acquiring an additional 42,467 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,239,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,140,000 after buying an additional 118,417 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,870,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,461,000 after buying an additional 317,690 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,218,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,730,000 after buying an additional 319,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 11.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 882,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,903,000 after acquiring an additional 91,417 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.25.

CNO Financial Group Company 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.