Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys New Shares in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,817 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $879,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $408,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 166,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 10,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 14,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Yvonne K. Franzese sold 7,214 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value of $197,880.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,279,115.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other CNO Financial Group news, EVP Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 3,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.76, for a total transaction of $86,167.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 278,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,465,959.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yvonne K. Franzese sold 7,214 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $197,880.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,279,115.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,590 shares of company stock valued at $4,116,255 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised CNO Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. 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 MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

CNO Financial Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CNO opened at $26.40 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.03. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.95 and a 52-week high of $28.39.

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

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is 24.90%.

CNO Financial Group 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.