Kestrel Investment Management Corp Sells 28,100 Shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Kestrel Investment Management Corp cut its stake in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,100 shares during the period. CNO Financial Group accounts for 3.0% of Kestrel Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Kestrel Investment Management Corp owned about 0.14% of CNO Financial Group worth $4,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 4.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,806,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,739,000 after acquiring an additional 626,454 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,422,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,203,000 after buying an additional 198,429 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 2.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,618,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,544,000 after buying an additional 102,569 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 4.2% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,200,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,830,000 after buying an additional 89,527 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 13.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,189,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,964,000 after buying an additional 266,945 shares during the period. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In other CNO Financial Group news, EVP Yvonne K. Franzese sold 7,214 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $197,880.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,279,115.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other CNO Financial Group news, EVP Yvonne K. Franzese sold 7,214 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $197,880.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,279,115.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary C. Bhojwani sold 18,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total value of $514,403.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 314,002 shares in the company, valued at $8,641,335.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 152,590 shares of company stock valued at $4,116,255. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CNO. Piper Sandler raised CNO Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on CNO Financial Group from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

CNO Financial Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CNO traded up $0.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.19. 829,804 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,121. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.95 and a 1-year high of $28.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Research analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNO Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is 24.90%.

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.