Brokerages Set CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Target Price at $27.50

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.50.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of CNO Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE CNO opened at $26.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. CNO Financial Group has a 12-month low of $19.95 and a 12-month high of $28.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.03.

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, topping 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 analyst estimates of $934.05 million. Analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 3.14 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. Investors 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 yield of 2.27%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.90%.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In related news, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 18,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total transaction of $514,403.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,002 shares in the company, valued at $8,641,335.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 18,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total transaction of $514,403.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,002 shares in the company, valued at $8,641,335.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Detoro sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total transaction of $75,283.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 69,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,886,295.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,590 shares of company stock worth $4,116,255 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,226,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,116,000 after acquiring an additional 76,514 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 13.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,189,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,964,000 after acquiring an additional 266,945 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,838,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,630,000 after acquiring an additional 22,012 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 10.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,350,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,038,000 after acquiring an additional 125,047 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

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.