CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on CNO. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.80.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 0.6 %

CNO Financial Group stock opened at $26.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.03. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.00. CNO Financial Group has a twelve month low of $19.95 and a twelve month high of $28.39.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $934.05 million. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, research analysts predict that CNO Financial Group will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 24.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Karen Detoro sold 2,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total transaction of $72,301.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 72,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,963,026.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $285,426.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 192,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,064,652.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Karen Detoro sold 2,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total transaction of $72,301.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 72,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,963,026.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 149,812 shares of company stock valued at $4,040,971 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 95.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is owned by 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.