California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Holdings in CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,912 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in CNO Financial Group were worth $4,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 0.3% in 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 buying an additional 8,053 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased 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 worth $79,461,000 after acquiring an additional 317,690 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in CNO Financial Group by 8.3% during the first 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. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $51,730,000 after buying an additional 319,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 764,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,509,000 after buying an additional 187,974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of CNO Financial Group stock opened at $55.21 on Friday. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.05 and a 1 year high of $57.59. The firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.86 and a 200 day moving average of $46.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last posted 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 net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. CNO Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on CNO shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $48.00 price target on shares of CNO Financial Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

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.