CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Holdings Raised by Uncommon Cents Investing LLC

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,425 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in CNO Financial Group were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 587,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,393,000 after purchasing an additional 290,585 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,997 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 85.0% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 41,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 18,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 10.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,350,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,038,000 after purchasing an additional 125,047 shares during the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 0.3 %

CNO stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $27.48. The stock had a trading volume of 898,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 752,653. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.95 and a 1-year high of $28.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.98 and a 200 day moving average of $25.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 1.03.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.33. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 6.67%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $934.05 million. On average, equities analysts expect that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 24.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $285,426.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 192,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,064,652.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Paul H. Mcdonough sold 10,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $285,426.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 192,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,064,652.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 16,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $454,599.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 406,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,816. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,040 shares of company stock valued at $2,622,223 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group 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.