Brokerages Set CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Target Price at $37.17

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.17.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNO shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on CNO Financial Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:CNO opened at $39.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.73. CNO Financial Group has a 1-year low of $24.92 and a 1-year high of $40.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 1.04.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.29. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 6.06%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $945.44 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. CNO Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In related news, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 4,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total transaction of $191,750.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,430.89. This trade represents a 7.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Eric R. Johnson sold 3,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $155,500.02. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 631,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,698,781.96. This trade represents a 0.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,745 shares of company stock worth $572,467 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 300.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,199,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,086,000 after acquiring an additional 899,990 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,040,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,526,000 after purchasing an additional 232,631 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 671,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,945,000 after purchasing an additional 181,711 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 113.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,691,000 after purchasing an additional 116,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,899,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,676,000 after purchasing an additional 107,589 shares in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.