CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of CNO stock opened at $41.68 on Friday. CNO Financial Group has a 1 year low of $24.92 and a 1 year high of $42.02. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.11 and its 200-day moving average is $37.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.22.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.25. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 9.08%. Equities analysts expect that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.11%.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 1,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total value of $56,421.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 79,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,037,645.92. This trade represents a 1.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 40,800 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,692,792.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 244,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,162,685.07. The trade was a 14.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,584 shares of company stock valued at $3,554,089 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNO. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in CNO Financial Group by 236.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 922,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,323,000 after purchasing an additional 648,591 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $15,093,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $14,270,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $13,975,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in CNO Financial Group by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,274,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,419,000 after purchasing an additional 372,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.