CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.75.

CNO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $48.00 price objective on CNO Financial Group and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CNO stock opened at $48.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. CNO Financial Group has a twelve month low of $35.24 and a twelve month high of $48.82. The company has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.88.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This is a positive change from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 27.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.97, for a total value of $442,068.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 214,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,574,524.28. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 18.8% in the first quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 57,804 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 69.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 17,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 7,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 13.6% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 108,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,000 after purchasing an additional 12,912 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CNO Financial Group

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.