Evercore ISI Raises CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Price Target to $29.00

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) had its price target increased by Evercore ISI from $27.00 to $29.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on CNO. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on CNO Financial Group from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CNO Financial Group from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.60.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 1.6 %

CNO opened at $34.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.18. CNO Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.27 and a 12 month high of $35.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.04.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $929.99 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CNO Financial Group will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 15,021 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $424,343.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $893,010.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 15,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $424,343.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $893,010.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael E. Mead sold 5,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total value of $144,625.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,053,659.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,421 shares of company stock valued at $975,861. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 64.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $52,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in CNO Financial Group by 25.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in CNO Financial Group by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.