CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• CNO Financial Group has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average 1-year target price of $43.40.
• The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and achieving revenue of $1.15 billion.
• CNO has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%.

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.40.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of CNO traded up $0.34 on Friday, reaching $39.56. 424,239 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,536. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.39. CNO Financial Group has a 12 month low of $33.85 and a 12 month high of $43.20.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $971.25 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 16.63%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 10th. CNO Financial Group's payout ratio is 25.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In related news, insider Michael E. Mead sold 12,581 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.97, for a total transaction of $477,700.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $597,230.13. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNO. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 70.9% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,546,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,673,000 after acquiring an additional 641,950 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $24,071,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 72.7% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,333,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,641,000 after acquiring an additional 561,327 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $10,651,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 9.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,938,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $122,369,000 after purchasing an additional 250,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.43% of the company's stock.

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.

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