Short Interest in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Increases By 5.5%

CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,100,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 1,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 656,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CNO Financial Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

CNO opened at $37.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.20. CNO Financial Group has a one year low of $24.92 and a one year high of $40.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 1.02.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.29. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $945.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.81%.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Jeremy David Williams sold 4,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $191,750.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 62,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,430.89. This represents a 7.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CIO Eric R. Johnson sold 3,978 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $155,500.02. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 631,844 shares in the company, valued at $24,698,781.96. The trade was a 0.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,745 shares of company stock worth $572,467 in the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,117,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,695,000 after buying an additional 343,819 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 6.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,899,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,676,000 after acquiring an additional 107,589 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 300.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,199,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,086,000 after purchasing an additional 899,990 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 28.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,040,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,526,000 after purchasing an additional 232,631 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 455.1% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 777,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,546,000 after purchasing an additional 637,254 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.