CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Short Interest Update

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,940,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the October 15th total of 1,770,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 702,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Jeanne L. Linnenbringer sold 5,435 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total value of $186,203.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,663 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,334.38. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 4,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total transaction of $191,750.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 62,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,490,430.89. The trade was a 7.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $565,050. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 64.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 123.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in CNO Financial Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 141.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

CNO Financial Group stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.95. 500,790 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 675,550. CNO Financial Group has a 52 week low of $24.92 and a 52 week high of $40.29. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.01. The company's fifty day moving average is $35.40 and its 200-day moving average is $31.76.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.29. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 6.06%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $945.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. CNO Financial Group's payout ratio is 25.81%.

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.