CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CNO. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $48.00 price target on CNO Financial Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CNO opened at $55.21 on Friday. CNO Financial Group has a 1 year low of $36.05 and a 1 year high of $57.59. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.86 and a 200-day moving average of $46.06.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.45 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is 24.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 86,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total value of $4,429,751.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 174,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,971,110.72. This trade represents a 33.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 5,750 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $287,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 79,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,959,550. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 95,106 shares of company stock valued at $4,879,343 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNO. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in CNO Financial Group by 123.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in CNO Financial Group by 75.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

CNO Financial Group is an Indiana‐based holding company that offers a range of insurance and retirement solutions through its operating subsidiaries. Its primary business activities include life insurance, annuities, and supplemental health insurance products designed to help individuals plan for retirement and manage health‐related expenses. The company serves middle‐income Americans, with particular emphasis on senior customers seeking guaranteed coverage and reliable income streams.

Originally founded as Conseco in 1979, the company underwent a financial restructuring and rebranded as CNO Financial Group in 2010.