CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its CNO Financial Group holdings by 926.6% in the second quarter, acquiring 717,710 additional shares and bringing its stake to 795,165 shares worth approximately $40.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 95.43% of the company.
• CNO Financial Group reported quarterly EPS of $1.26, beating the $0.97 analyst consensus, while revenue reached $1.29 billion and increased 11.6% year over year. Shares opened at $55.21, near the company’s 52-week high of $57.59.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $52.50, while insiders sold more than $4.8 million of stock over the past three months. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, representing a 1.3% yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Free Report) by 926.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 795,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 717,710 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.85% of CNO Financial Group worth $40,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in CNO Financial Group by 123.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 75.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,133 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,194 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CNO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Evercore set a $48.00 price target on CNO Financial Group and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut CNO Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded CNO Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.50.

Insider Activity

In other CNO Financial Group news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 5,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $287,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 79,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,959,550. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 86,048 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total value of $4,429,751.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 174,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,971,110.72. This represents a 33.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 95,106 shares of company stock worth $4,879,343 over the last three months. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CNO Financial Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CNO opened at $55.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $51.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.06. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.05 and a twelve month high of $57.59.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.45 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 6.02%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. CNO Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.74%.

CNO Financial Group Profile

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.

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