CNO Financial (CNO) Gets a Buy Rating from B.Riley FBR

In a report released today, Randy Binner from B.Riley FBR reiterated a Buy rating on CNO Financial (CNO), with a price target of $22. The company’s shares opened today at $17.14.

Binner wrote:

“CNO Financial Group (CNO, $22 PT) reported 1Q19 operating EPS of $0.41, versus the $0.42/ $0.45 B. Riley FBR/consensus estimates. The penny miss to our model was the result of weaker- than-expected investment income in the National segments and higher expenses, offset by better-than-expected fee and corporate investment income revenue. There was an ~$0.08 benefit from higher, market-related corporate investment income; but operating expenses were also significantly elevated. We will focus on these items on the quarterly conference call to get a clearer picture of go-forward earnings. Margins were as expected for the Bankers Life segment’s supplemental health line (which had been an area of concern in 2H18). Sales metrics continued to be favorable across a number of segments.”

According to TipRanks.com, Binner is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 14.3% and a 68.0% success rate. Binner covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Health Insurance Innovations, Victory Capital Holdings Inc, and National General Holdings.

CNO Financial has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $21.50.

See today’s analyst top recommended stocks >>

The company has a one-year high of $22.54 and a one-year low of $13.64. Currently, CNO Financial has an average volume of 1.03M.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 64 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is positive on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders buying their shares of CNO in relation to earlier this year.

TipRanks has tracked 36,000 company insiders and found that a few of them are better than others when it comes to timing their transactions. See which 3 stocks are most likely to make moves following their insider activities.

CNO Financial Group, Inc. is an insurance holding company, which develops, markets and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance and other insurance products. It operates through the following segments: Bankers Life, Washington National, Colonial Penn.