CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Short Interest Up 5.5% in December

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

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In related news, CMO Rocco F. Tarasi III sold 1,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total value of $56,421.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 79,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,037,645.92. This represents a 1.82 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total transaction of $191,750.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 62,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,430.89. This represents a 7.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,745 shares of company stock worth $572,467 in the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNO Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 123.2% in the second 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 period. CWM LLC boosted its position in CNO Financial Group by 53.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in CNO Financial Group by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CNO opened at $37.21 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.91 and its 200 day moving average is $34.18. CNO Financial Group has a 1 year low of $24.92 and a 1 year high of $40.91.

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

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNO. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of 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 shares of CNO Financial Group from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

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.