CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) Shares Cross Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.40 and traded as high as $54.75. CNO Financial Group shares last traded at $54.47, with a volume of 486,680 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CNO. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Capital One Financial set a $70.00 target price on CNO Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut CNO Financial Group from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.40.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.80. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.74%.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In related news, insider Karen DeToro sold 9,374 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.98, for a total value of $515,382.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,432,865. This trade represents a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeanne Linnenbringer sold 6,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.99, for a total value of $360,734.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,879,998.12. This trade represents a 16.10% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 47,995 shares of company stock worth $2,641,336. 3.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CNO Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $682,433,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $124,476,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,492,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,282,000 after buying an additional 114,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,034,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in CNO Financial Group by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 855,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,259,000 after buying an additional 60,240 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

CNO Financial Group, Inc is a holding company for a group of insurance and financial services businesses focused on serving middle-income Americans, particularly individuals approaching or in retirement. Through its operating companies, CNO provides products designed to help customers protect income, manage health care expenses and prepare for retirement.

CNO’s principal brands include Bankers Life, Colonial Penn and Washington National. Its offerings include life insurance, annuities, supplemental health insurance, Medicare supplement insurance and other insurance products.