CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,170,000 shares, a decline of 15.2% from the April 30th total of 2,560,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 782,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 3,393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total value of $141,725.61. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,140.23. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 8,109 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $340,578.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,618,680. The trade was a 17.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,912 shares of company stock valued at $1,125,523 in the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNO. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 236.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 922,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,323,000 after buying an additional 648,591 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $24,071,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $15,093,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $14,270,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $13,975,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company's stock.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 2.1%

CNO Financial Group stock traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 420,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,240. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.19. CNO Financial Group has a 12 month low of $26.36 and a 12 month high of $43.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.89.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $975.80 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 9.08%. CNO Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was down 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is an increase from CNO Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. CNO Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 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.