Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 648,591 Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Free Report) by 236.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 922,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 648,591 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.89% of CNO Financial Group worth $34,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNO. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 368.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 95.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 855 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 193.2% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 137.8% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 2,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.18, for a total value of $84,908.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,606.92. This trade represents a 6.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 25,500 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.11, for a total value of $1,022,805.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 169,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,792,307.62. This represents a 13.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,712 shares of company stock worth $4,804,918 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNO. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on CNO Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:CNO traded down $0.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $37.18. 130,037 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 711,287. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.36 and a fifty-two week high of $43.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.03.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $975.80 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 17.20%. The firm's revenue was down 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This is an increase from CNO Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. CNO Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.78%.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

CNO Financial Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, insurance products, and financial services for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It offers Medicare supplement, supplemental health, and long-term care insurance policies; life insurance; and annuities, as well as Medicare advantage plans to individuals through phone, online, mail, and face-to-face.