Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Grows Stake in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Free Report) by 54.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 287,581 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 101,583 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.28% of CNO Financial Group worth $10,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CNO. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 113.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,691,000 after buying an additional 116,617 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 6.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,899,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $66,676,000 after buying an additional 107,589 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 21,235 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CNO shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CNO Financial Group stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.69. 612,341 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 713,322. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.99. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.36 and a 52-week high of $43.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.90.

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

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This is a boost from CNO Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. CNO Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 23.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 8,109 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $340,578.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,618,680. The trade was a 17.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 25,500 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.11, for a total transaction of $1,022,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 169,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,792,307.62. The trade was a 13.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,512 shares of company stock valued at $6,497,710. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

About CNO Financial Group

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.