CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.60.

Several analysts recently commented on CNO shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 76,514 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,250,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 30.9% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 105,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after acquiring an additional 24,844 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $890,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 157,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,384,000 after acquiring an additional 47,762 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

CNO stock opened at $34.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.50. CNO Financial Group has a 52-week low of $22.27 and a 52-week high of $35.45.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $929.99 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 9.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.66%.

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.