CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Shares Cross Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.40 and traded as high as $54.75. CNO Financial Group shares last traded at $54.47, with a volume of 486,680 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CNO. Wall Street Zen raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 0.5%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.29. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72 and a beta of 0.80.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $999.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Karen J. Detoro sold 5,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $328,735.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,009,124. This represents a 14.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeanne L. Linnenbringer sold 3,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total value of $215,976.09. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,444,377.99. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 47,995 shares of company stock valued at $2,641,336 over the last quarter. 3.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in CNO Financial Group by 156.9% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 38.4% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 75.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

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.