Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 27,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,380,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CNO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $682,433,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,470,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,456,000 after purchasing an additional 8,053 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 317,690 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $61,282,000 after purchasing an additional 114,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 319,795 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Evercore set a $48.00 target price on shares of CNO Financial Group and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of 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 research note on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CNO Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In related news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 5,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $287,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 79,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,959,550. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 86,048 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total value of $4,429,751.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 174,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,971,110.72. This represents a 33.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,106 shares of company stock worth $4,879,343. Insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of CNO opened at $55.20 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.81. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.22 and a 1 year high of $57.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.34.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last posted its 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. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. CNO Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.74%.

About CNO Financial Group

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.