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Factors That Make CNO Financial (CNO) a Lucrative Bet Now

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CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO - Free Report) is aided by higher insurance policy income, new product launches, acquisitions and partnerships, and a commendable financial position. 

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

CNO Financial currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

The stock has gained 25.2% in the past year.  

Zacks Investment Research
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Favorable Style Score

CNO carries an impressive Value Score of A. Value Score helps find stocks that are undervalued. Back-tested results have shown so far that stocks with a favorable Value Score in combination with a solid Zacks Rank are the best investment bets.

Robust Growth Prospects

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNO Financial’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $3.17 per share, suggesting growth of 2.6% from the prior-year reported figure. The consensus mark for 2025 earnings is $3.40 per share, indicating an improvement of 7.2% from the 2024 estimate.

Decent Earnings Surprise History

CNO Financial’s bottom line outpaced estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark twice, the average surprise being 3.62%.

Solid Return on Equity

Return on equity in the trailing 12 months is currently 17.5% for CNO, which is higher than the industry’s average of 13.3%. This substantiates the company’s efficiency in utilizing shareholders’ funds.

Key Business Tailwinds

CNO Financial is poised to benefit from a diversified product portfolio comprising annuity, health and life insurance products. A diversified portfolio empowers a company to manage risks effectively and fetch a steady flow of premiums, one of the most significant contributors to an insurer’s revenues. Insurance policy income accounted for around 60% of CNO’s overall revenues in 2023.  

The company’s efforts related to new products or upgradation of the existing ones per the evolving market needs are likely to boost insurance premiums in the days ahead. As part of its annuity business, the insurer unveiled a flexible premium "premium bonus" product in 2023 that provides a bonus on each premium deposit made, subject to contractual terms. This, in turn, may lure more customers to opt for CNO’s annuity product suite.

CNO Financial resorts to acquisitions or partnerships to expand its product and services portfolio, which in turn, aims to boost customer base and bolster geographic reach.

It also pursues technology investments to enhance operational efficiencies, agent productivity and online sales of its insurance products. Such investments seem time opportune with digitization being infused across every sphere of life. CNO has a digital health insurance marketplace in place, which is called myHealthPolicy.com.

A strong financial strength, substantiated by solid cash reserves and robust cash-generating abilities, equips CNO Financial to undertake business investments and return value to shareholders via share repurchases and dividend payments. The insurer generated net cash from operations of $582.9 million in 2023, which improved 17.7% year over year. CNO has been on a spree to hike dividends for more than a decade.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks in the insurance space are Horace Mann Educators Corporation (HMN - Free Report) , Palomar Holdings, Inc. (PLMR - Free Report) and HCI Group, Inc. (HCI - Free Report) , each currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Horace Mann’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the last four quarters and matched the mark once, the average surprise being 15.24%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMN’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $3.15 per share, which has more than doubled from the prior-year reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues indicates a rise of 9.2% from the year-ago actual. The consensus mark for HMN's 2024 earnings has moved 5% north in the past 60 days.

Palomar’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 11.12%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLMR’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 16.3% from the prior-year actual. The consensus estimate for revenues suggests an improvement of 24.6% from the year-ago actual. The consensus mark for PLMR’s 2024 earnings has moved 1.7% north in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of HCI Group outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 522.51%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCI’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 37.9% from the prior-year actual. The same for revenues suggests an improvement of 44.7% from the year-ago actual. The consensus mark for HCI’s 2024 earnings has moved 37.4% north in the past 30 days.

Shares of Horace Mann, Palomar and HCI Group have gained 9.7%, 54.8% and 114.7%, respectively, in the past year.

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