VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys 13,900 Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 227.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,900 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in CNO Financial Group were worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $682,433,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $124,476,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 8.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,492,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,282,000 after purchasing an additional 114,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 6.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 988,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,570,000 after buying an additional 57,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,529,000. 95.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Jeanne Linnenbringer sold 6,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.99, for a total value of $360,734.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 34,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,879,998.12. The trade was a 16.10% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 4,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $244,293.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 62,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,435,749.01. The trade was a 6.64% 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 47,995 shares of company stock valued at $2,641,336 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNO has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 target price on CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Zacks Research upgraded CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CNO Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE CNO opened at $56.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.80. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.99 and a 52-week high of $59.15.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.80. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

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.