CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.25.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.17, for a total transaction of $388,530.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,062 shares in the company, valued at $1,513,626.54. This trade represents a 20.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 33,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total value of $1,455,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 307,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,687.85. This represents a 9.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 226,431 shares of company stock valued at $9,715,996. Corporate insiders own 3.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,121,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,429,000 after buying an additional 183,493 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $1,077,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $3,057,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the third quarter valued at about $1,469,000. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $1,511,000. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CNO Financial Group Trading Down 0.1%

CNO Financial Group stock opened at $41.78 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. CNO Financial Group has a 12 month low of $34.63 and a 12 month high of $44.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73 and a beta of 0.83.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $101.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 4.94%.CNO Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

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.