CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• CNO Financial Group reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $59.15 and last at $58.62, above its prior close of $57.73.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.90, beating analysts’ $1.10 estimate, and revenue of $1.09 billion versus expectations of $1.01 billion.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with a $56 average price target. Insiders sold 47,995 shares worth about $2.64 million over the past three months.

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $59.15 and last traded at $58.62, with a volume of 22,035 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $57.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 target price on CNO Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of CNO Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CNO Financial Group from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.80.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.80. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 9.19%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Jeanne Linnenbringer sold 3,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total value of $215,976.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,444,377.99. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeremy Williams sold 4,362 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total value of $243,050.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 61,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,401,204.52. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,995 shares of company stock valued at $2,641,336. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $682,433,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the second quarter worth $124,476,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,034,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,529,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 926.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 795,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,538,000 after buying an additional 717,710 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group, Inc is a holding company for a group of insurance and financial services businesses focused on serving middle-income Americans, particularly individuals approaching or in retirement. Through its operating companies, CNO provides products designed to help customers protect income, manage health care expenses and prepare for retirement.

CNO's principal brands include Bankers Life, Colonial Penn and Washington National. Its offerings include life insurance, annuities, supplemental health insurance, Medicare supplement insurance and other insurance products.

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