Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 47,230 Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,395,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,230 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 3.62% of CNO Financial Group worth $139,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $1,125,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 102.1% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 45,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 22,749 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 16,092 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $5,871,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 3,633.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 70,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,894,000 after buying an additional 68,602 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 5,750 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $287,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 79,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,959,550. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 86,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total transaction of $4,429,751.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 174,264 shares in the company, valued at $8,971,110.72. This represents a 33.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,106 shares of company stock worth $4,879,343. 3.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:CNO opened at $53.16 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 0.81. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.24 and a twelve month high of $54.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.26. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 10th. This is a positive change from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $48.00 target price on CNO Financial Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

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.