CNO Financial Group, Inc.’s (CNO - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings per share of 47 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 43 cents by 9.3%. The bottom line also improved 30.6% year over year, mainly on the back of solid revenues.
In the quarter under review, CNO Financial’s total revenues surged 37.4% year over year to $1069 million owing to policyholder and other special-purpose portfolios, higher fee revenues and other income plus other net realized investment gains.
Quarterly Operational Update
Total collected premiums of $972.8 million slipped 1.5% from the prior-year quarter, mainly due to weak contribution from Bankers Life segment.
New annualized premiums for life and health products amounted to $97.6 million, up 8.9% from the year-ago period.
First-year collected premiums declined 6.1% from the year-earlier quarter.
Quarterly Segment UpdateBankers Life
Total collected premiums of $711.1 million were down 2.9% year over year.
New annualized premiums for life and health products dipped 0.5% year over year.
Washington National
Total collected premiums of $181.2 million inched up 2.8% year over year.
New Annualized premiums from life and health products were $39.7 million, up 31.9% from the year-ago figure.
Colonial Penn
Total collected premiums were $77.3 million, up 2.8% year over year.
New annualized premiums from life and health products were $15.9 million, down 8.1% from the amount recorded in the comparable quarter last year.
Long-Term Care in Run-Off
Total collected premiums were $3.2 million, down 13.5% year over year.
The long-term care business was ceded under a 100% indemnity coinsurance agreement in the third quarter of 2018.
Financial Update
Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents held by CNO Financial’s holding company were $580 million as of Dec 31, 2019, down 2.4% from the level at 2018 end.
Debt-to-capital ratio was 17.5% as of Dec 31, 2019 compared with 21.4% at 2018 end.
Securities Repurchase and Divided Update
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the company returned $91 million in the form of share repurchases and dividend.
Full-Year Update
For 2019, net income came in at $409.4 million against a net loss of $315 million in 2018.
In 2019, the company returned $319 million to its shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends.
Zacks Rank and Performance of Other Insurers
CNO Financial carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Among other players from the insurance industry, which already reported fourth-quarter earnings, the bottom-line results of Brown & Brown, Inc. (BRO - Free Report) and RLI Corp. (RLI - Free Report) beat estimates while that of Principal Financial (PFG - Free Report) matched the same. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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CNO Financial Group, Inc.’s (CNO - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings per share of 47 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 43 cents by 9.3%. The bottom line also improved 30.6% year over year, mainly on the back of solid revenues.
In the quarter under review, CNO Financial’s total revenues surged 37.4% year over year to $1069 million owing to policyholder and other special-purpose portfolios, higher fee revenues and other income plus other net realized investment gains.
Quarterly Operational Update
Total collected premiums of $972.8 million slipped 1.5% from the prior-year quarter, mainly due to weak contribution from Bankers Life segment.
New annualized premiums for life and health products amounted to $97.6 million, up 8.9% from the year-ago period.
First-year collected premiums declined 6.1% from the year-earlier quarter.
Quarterly Segment Update
Bankers Life
Total collected premiums of $711.1 million were down 2.9% year over year.
New annualized premiums for life and health products dipped 0.5% year over year.
Washington National
Total collected premiums of $181.2 million inched up 2.8% year over year.
New Annualized premiums from life and health products were $39.7 million, up 31.9% from the year-ago figure.
Colonial Penn
Total collected premiums were $77.3 million, up 2.8% year over year.
New annualized premiums from life and health products were $15.9 million, down 8.1% from the amount recorded in the comparable quarter last year.
Long-Term Care in Run-Off
Total collected premiums were $3.2 million, down 13.5% year over year.
The long-term care business was ceded under a 100% indemnity coinsurance agreement in the third quarter of 2018.
Financial Update
Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents held by CNO Financial’s holding company were $580 million as of Dec 31, 2019, down 2.4% from the level at 2018 end.
Debt-to-capital ratio was 17.5% as of Dec 31, 2019 compared with 21.4% at 2018 end.
Securities Repurchase and Divided Update
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the company returned $91 million in the form of share repurchases and dividend.
Full-Year Update
For 2019, net income came in at $409.4 million against a net loss of $315 million in 2018.
In 2019, the company returned $319 million to its shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends.
Zacks Rank and Performance of Other Insurers
CNO Financial carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Among other players from the insurance industry, which already reported fourth-quarter earnings, the bottom-line results of Brown & Brown, Inc. (BRO - Free Report) and RLI Corp. (RLI - Free Report) beat estimates while that of Principal Financial (PFG - Free Report) matched the same. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2019, while the S&P 500 gained and impressive +53.6%, five of our strategies returned +65.8%, +97.1%, +118.0%, +175.7% and even +186.7%.
This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2019, while the S&P averaged +6.0% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +54.7% per year.
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From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
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