Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Free Report) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,452 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in CNO Financial Group were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNO. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 236.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $14,270,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $13,975,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,274,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,419,000 after buying an additional 372,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,687,861 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,015,000 after buying an additional 282,611 shares in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 2,097 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.56, for a total value of $89,248.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,461.76. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 3,393 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $141,725.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,140.23. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,912 shares of company stock worth $3,168,838 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

CNO stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.18. The company had a trading volume of 498,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 714,563. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.22. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.36 and a 12 month high of $43.20. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $38.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.05.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $975.80 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 17.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. CNO Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.