CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Rating Increased to Overweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Piper Sandler currently has $29.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com downgraded CNO Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CNO Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $27.50.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 1.9 %

CNO Financial Group stock opened at $26.19 on Tuesday. CNO Financial Group has a one year low of $19.95 and a one year high of $28.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.66 and its 200 day moving average is $26.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.03.

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

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.90%.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In related news, EVP Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 3,220 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.76, for a total transaction of $86,167.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 278,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,465,959.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 3,220 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.76, for a total transaction of $86,167.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 278,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,465,959.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 7,325 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $195,211.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 178,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,751,561.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 152,590 shares of company stock valued at $4,116,255. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 95.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. 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.