CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Insider Jeremy Williams Sells 4,420 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: Jeremy Williams sold 4,420 CNO Financial Group shares for approximately $244,293 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his position by 6.64% to 62,163 shares.
• Strong quarterly results: CNO reported quarterly EPS of $1.26, beating estimates by $0.29, while revenue rose 11.6% year over year to $1.29 billion.
• Stock and outlook: Shares recently traded near $55.49, while analysts maintained an overall “Hold” rating with an average price target of $56. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, yielding about 1.3% annually.

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) insider Jeremy Williams sold 4,420 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $244,293.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 62,163 shares in the company, valued at $3,435,749.01. This represents a 6.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

CNO Financial Group Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE CNO traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.49. 1,335,425 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 741,348. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.22 and a 52-week high of $57.59. The company's 50-day moving average is $54.29 and its 200-day moving average is $48.51.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.29. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. CNO Financial Group's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. CNO Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.74%.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNO. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 18.0% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered CNO Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price objective on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CNO Financial Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

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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