CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on CNO. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $48.00 price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of CNO stock opened at $55.21 on Friday. CNO Financial Group has a twelve month low of $36.05 and a twelve month high of $57.59. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.86 and a 200 day moving average of $46.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.45 million. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 6.02%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CNO Financial Group will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CNO Financial Group

In other news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 5,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $287,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 79,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,959,550. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 86,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total transaction of $4,429,751.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 174,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,971,110.72. This trade represents a 33.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 95,106 shares of company stock valued at $4,879,343 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $682,433,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,470,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,456,000 after purchasing an additional 8,053 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,870,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,461,000 after purchasing an additional 317,690 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,492,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,282,000 after purchasing an additional 114,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,218,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,730,000 after purchasing an additional 319,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group is an Indiana‐based holding company that offers a range of insurance and retirement solutions through its operating subsidiaries. Its primary business activities include life insurance, annuities, and supplemental health insurance products designed to help individuals plan for retirement and manage health‐related expenses. The company serves middle‐income Americans, with particular emphasis on senior customers seeking guaranteed coverage and reliable income streams.

Originally founded as Conseco in 1979, the company underwent a financial restructuring and rebranded as CNO Financial Group in 2010.