Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Shares in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 24,078 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $896,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 368.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 95.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 855 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 193.2% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 137.8% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CNO Financial Group stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.24. The stock had a trading volume of 446,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 709,688. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.36 and a 12 month high of $43.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50-day moving average is $38.34 and its 200 day moving average is $38.98.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 9.08%. The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $975.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from CNO Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. CNO Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.78%.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 2,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.56, for a total transaction of $89,248.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,461.76. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 25,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $1,020,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 169,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,066.84. This represents a 13.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,412 shares of company stock valued at $2,146,033 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.