CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

CNO has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 1.7%

CNO Financial Group stock opened at $40.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. CNO Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $34.63 and a fifty-two week high of $44.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.13.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.27. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 4.94%.The company had revenue of $101.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.17, for a total transaction of $388,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,513,626.54. The trade was a 20.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 11,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.97, for a total value of $442,068.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 214,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,574,524.28. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,208 shares of company stock valued at $9,762,609. 3.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,302,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,157,000 after acquiring an additional 42,467 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,239,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,140,000 after purchasing an additional 118,417 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $79,461,000 after purchasing an additional 317,690 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $51,730,000 after purchasing an additional 319,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 882,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,903,000 after purchasing an additional 91,417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

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.