CNO Financial Q1 operating EPS rises 33% on sales growth

Overview

• US life and health insurer's Q1 operating EPS rose 33% yr/yr, driven by sales momentum

• Net income for Q1 increased to $38 mln from $21.5 mln a year ago

• Company repurchased $60 mln of common stock in Q1

Outlook

• Company did not provide specific guidance for the current quarter or full year

Result Drivers

• SALES MOMENTUM - Co said continued sales momentum drove operating earnings growth, with new annualized premiums up 11% and Medicare policies sold up 24%

• INSURANCE PRODUCT MARGIN - Co attributed earnings growth to strong performance across insurance product margin

• AGENT COUNT GROWTH - Co said producing agent counts in Consumer and Worksite segments grew for 13 and 15 consecutive quarters, respectively

Company press release: ID:nPn528j8za

Key Details

Analyst Coverage

• The current average analyst rating on the shares is "hold" and the breakdown of recommendations is 1 "strong buy" or "buy", 3 "hold" and 1 "sell" or "strong sell"

• The average consensus recommendation for the life & health insurance peer group is "buy."

• Wall Street's median 12-month price target for CNO Financial Group Inc is $45.00, about 0.8% above its April 29 closing price of $44.66

• The stock recently traded at 10 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 10 three months ago

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.