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

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,899,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 107,589 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.84% of CNO Financial Group worth $66,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNO. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,117,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,695,000 after buying an additional 343,819 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 300.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,199,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,086,000 after acquiring an additional 899,990 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,040,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,526,000 after acquiring an additional 232,631 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 455.1% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 777,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,546,000 after acquiring an additional 637,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 97.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,251,000 after purchasing an additional 306,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on CNO Financial Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CNO Financial Group news, CIO Eric R. Johnson sold 3,978 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $155,500.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 631,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,698,781.96. The trade was a 0.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total value of $168,795.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 72,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,734,328.96. This represents a 5.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,745 shares of company stock worth $572,467 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CNO opened at $36.78 on Friday. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.92 and a 52 week high of $40.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 1.02.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $945.44 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 6.06%. CNO Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

CNO Financial Group 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.