Engineers Gate Manager LP Decreases Stake in CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP reduced its CNO Financial Group stake by 42% in the second quarter, selling 33,813 shares and retaining 46,750 shares worth approximately $2.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 95.43% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00, although individual targets range from $48 to $70.
• CNO reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.26 versus the $0.97 consensus estimate and revenue up 11.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, representing a 1.3% yield.

Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Free Report) by 42.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,750 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 33,813 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP owned approximately 0.05% of CNO Financial Group worth $2,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $682,433,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in CNO Financial Group by 4,851.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,354,939 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,995,000 after purchasing an additional 5,246,791 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in CNO Financial Group by 0.3% during 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 8.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 114,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 6.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 57,804 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNO. Evercore set a $48.00 price target on CNO Financial Group and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen raised CNO Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CNO Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $70.00 target price on CNO Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Karen J. Detoro sold 5,964 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $328,735.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,009,124. This trade represents a 14.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total value of $4,429,751.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 174,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,971,110.72. The trade was a 33.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 125,261 shares of company stock valued at $6,583,743. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company's stock.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 1.1%

CNO opened at $55.52 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.22 and a 1-year high of $57.59. The company has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $54.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.41.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. Through its operating companies, CNO provides insurance and related financial products designed primarily for middle-income Americans, including individuals and families approaching or living in retirement.

CNO's businesses include Bankers Life, which offers life insurance, annuities and long-term care products through agents; Colonial Penn, which markets life insurance directly to consumers; and Washington National, which provides supplemental health and life insurance products.

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