CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on CNO. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price target 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 report on Saturday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 1.0%

CNO opened at $55.41 on Tuesday. CNO Financial Group has a 1-year low of $38.99 and a 1-year high of $57.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.45 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. CNO Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 24.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Karen DeToro sold 9,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total transaction of $515,382.52. Following the sale, the insider owned 44,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,432,865. This trade represents a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeanne Linnenbringer sold 6,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 34,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,879,998.12. The trade was a 16.10% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,995 shares of company stock valued at $2,641,336. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $682,433,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $124,476,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 8.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $50,034,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 7.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 855,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,259,000 after buying an additional 60,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group, Inc is a holding company for a group of insurance and financial services businesses focused on serving middle-income Americans, particularly individuals approaching or in retirement. Through its operating companies, CNO provides products designed to help customers protect income, manage health care expenses and prepare for retirement.

CNO’s principal brands include Bankers Life, Colonial Penn and Washington National. Its offerings include life insurance, annuities, supplemental health insurance, Medicare supplement insurance and other insurance products.