CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Upgraded to Overweight by Piper Sandler

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Piper Sandler from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $29.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock. Piper Sandler's target price indicates a potential upside of 13.26% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CNO. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut CNO Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CNO Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.50.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CNO stock traded up $0.39 on Tuesday, hitting $25.61. 1,366,315 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 750,066. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. CNO Financial Group has a 12 month low of $19.95 and a 12 month high of $28.39. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.75 and a 200 day moving average of $26.15.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $934.05 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 6.67%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CNO Financial Group will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 18,692 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total value of $514,403.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,641,335.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 18,692 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total value of $514,403.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 314,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,641,335.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $285,426.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 192,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,064,652.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,590 shares of company stock worth $4,116,255 over the last ninety days. 3.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNO. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 60,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 6,281 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 191.0% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 36,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 24,066 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 38.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 141,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,540,000 after acquiring an additional 39,101 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the first quarter worth $1,142,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 7.9% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 44,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% 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.