CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• CNO Financial Group has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from five analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $56.00 versus a recent share price of $53.40.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $1.26 versus the $0.97 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.29 billion, up 11.6% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 95.43% of CNO’s shares, while insiders sold 47,995 shares worth approximately $2.64 million over the past three months; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share.

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.00.

CNO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of CNO Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CNO Financial Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of CNO Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Jeanne Linnenbringer sold 3,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total value of $215,976.09. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,444,377.99. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeremy Williams sold 4,362 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total value of $243,050.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 61,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,401,204.52. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 47,995 shares of company stock valued at $2,641,336 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $682,433,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,470,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,456,000 after purchasing an additional 8,053 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 8.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,492,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,282,000 after buying an additional 114,000 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 6.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 988,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,570,000 after buying an additional 57,804 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $44,529,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company's stock.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CNO traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $53.40. 23,524 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 767,161. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. CNO Financial Group has a 1-year low of $38.22 and a 1-year high of $57.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $54.58 and a 200-day moving average of $50.23.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.45 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 6.02%. The company's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CNO Financial Group will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. CNO Financial Group's payout ratio is 24.74%.

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group, Inc is a holding company that provides insurance and related financial services to middle-income Americans. Through its operating companies, CNO offers products designed to help individuals and families address retirement income, life insurance, health care and long-term financial protection needs.

The company's primary brands include Bankers Life, which distributes insurance and annuity products through agents; Washington National, which focuses on supplemental health and life insurance; and Colonial Penn, which markets life and supplemental health insurance directly to consumers.

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