Short Interest in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Drops By 19.3%

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,840,000 shares, a decline of 19.3% from the February 13th total of 2,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 598,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CNO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $46.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.50.

Remove Ads

CNO Financial Group Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE CNO traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.07. The stock had a trading volume of 587,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 644,892. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.19. CNO Financial Group has a 1 year low of $24.92 and a 1 year high of $42.41. The stock has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.02.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.25. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 9.08%. On average, research analysts expect that CNO Financial Group will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. CNO Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 17.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CNO Financial Group news, General Counsel Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 40,800 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,692,792.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 244,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,162,685.07. The trade was a 14.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 25,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $1,020,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 169,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,066.84. The trade was a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,372,187 in the last quarter. Corporate 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 bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 368.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 95.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 855 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 193.2% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in CNO Financial Group by 137.8% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company's stock.

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.