Insider Selling: CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) CEO Sells $551,662.00 in Stock

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,023,732.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

CNO Financial Group Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE CNO opened at $26.91 on Wednesday. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.95 and a twelve month high of $28.39. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.99.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.33. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $934.05 million. Equities analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,350,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,038,000 after purchasing an additional 125,047 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 97.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 587,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,393,000 after purchasing an additional 290,585 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,257,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,838,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,630,000 after purchasing an additional 22,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $466,000. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CNO. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

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.