CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Lifted 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 research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $29.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CNO. StockNews.com cut shares of CNO Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $27.50.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNO opened at $25.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.75 and a 200-day moving average of $26.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.03. CNO Financial Group has a 12 month low of $19.95 and a 12 month high of $28.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $934.05 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CNO Financial Group will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.90%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total value of $551,662.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,023,732.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Karen Detoro sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total value of $75,283.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,295.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $551,662.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,802 shares in the company, valued at $8,023,732.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 152,590 shares of company stock valued at $4,116,255. 3.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 10.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,350,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,038,000 after acquiring an additional 125,047 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 587,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,393,000 after acquiring an additional 290,585 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in CNO Financial Group during the third quarter worth $1,257,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,838,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,630,000 after acquiring an additional 22,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $466,000. 95.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

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.