Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,678,886 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 77,011 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.67% of CNO Financial Group worth $69,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 855 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 89.7% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 148.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 137.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.00.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE CNO traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.57. The company had a trading volume of 912,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,025. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.72 and a 1-year high of $43.20. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $37.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.82.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $975.80 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.86% and a net margin of 7.11%. CNO Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was down 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This is a positive change from CNO Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. CNO Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 23.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael E. Mead sold 12,581 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.97, for a total value of $477,700.57. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $597,230.13. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.38% of the stock is owned by company 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.