BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO)

Investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential downside of 2.80% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CNO. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.17.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNO opened at $39.09 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. CNO Financial Group has a 52 week low of $24.92 and a 52 week high of $40.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $168,795.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 72,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,734,328.96. This represents a 5.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 4,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $191,750.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 62,121 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,430.89. The trade was a 7.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,745 shares of company stock valued at $572,467. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNO. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 899,990 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 28.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,040,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,526,000 after acquiring an additional 232,631 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 346.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 197,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,479,000 after acquiring an additional 153,424 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 113.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,691,000 after buying an additional 116,617 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

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.