CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) CEO Gary C. Bhojwani Sells 18,692 Shares

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 18,692 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total transaction of $514,403.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,641,335.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 1.1 %

CNO stock opened at $26.91 on Wednesday. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.95 and a fifty-two week high of $28.39. The company has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $26.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.99.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $934.05 million. As a group, analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 24.90%.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 valued at $32,038,000 after acquiring an additional 125,047 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 97.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 587,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,393,000 after acquiring an additional 290,585 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,257,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,838,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,630,000 after purchasing an additional 22,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $466,000. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CNO shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on 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 price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

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.