CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on CNO. Zacks Research upgraded 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 lifted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $70.00 target price on CNO Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNO opened at $55.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.86. CNO Financial Group has a 52 week low of $38.99 and a 52 week high of $59.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.80.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.80. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 22.64%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Karen J. Detoro sold 9,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $515,382.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,432,865. This represents a 17.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeremy D. Williams sold 4,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $244,293.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 62,163 shares in the company, valued at $3,435,749.01. This represents a 6.64% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,995 shares of company stock valued at $2,641,336. 3.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNO. Ibex Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 23,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 3,184 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 6,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH purchased a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $354,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $139,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 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.