CNO Financial Group, Inc.’s (NYSE:CNO) reported third-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings per share of 45 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 47 cents by 4.3%. The bottom line also declined 15.1% year over year, mainly due to lower revenues.
In the quarter under review, CNO Financial’s total revenues plunged 36.3% year over year to $944 million, mainly due to lower net investment income and no realized investment gains. However, the same beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.9%.
Quarterly Operational Update
Total collected premiums of $949.3 million were up 2.9% from the prior-year quarter’s level, mainly driven by Bankers Life segment.
New annualized premiums for life and health products amounted to $84 million, up 2.8% from the year-ago period.
First-year collected premiums of $405.3 million rose 16% from the year-earlier quarter, primarily banking on the contribution from Bankers Life segment.
Quarterly Segment Update
Bankers Life
Total collected premiums of $692.8 million were up 9% year over year, aided by annuity.
New annualized premiums for life and health products were unchanged at $37.3 million.
Washington National
Total collected premiums of $176.1 million were up 5.1% year over year.
New Annualized premiums from life and health products were $27.5 million, up 8.7% from the year-ago quarter’s figure.
Colonial Penn
Total collected premiums were $77.1 million, up 4.2% year over year.
New annualized premiums from life and health products were $19.2 million, up 0.5% from the amount recorded in the comparable quarter last year.
Long-Term Care in Run-Off
Total collected premiums were $3.3 million, down 92.7% 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 investments held by CNO Financial’s holding company were $260 million as of Sep 30, 2019, up 18.2% from 2018 end.
Debt-to-capital ratio was 17.8% as of Sep 30, 2019 compared with 21.4% at the end of 2018.
Securities Repurchase and Divided Update
In the third quarter of 2019, the company returned shares worth $75.3 million and dividend payout of $16.8 million.
Zacks Rank and Performance of Other Insurers
CNO Financial carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Among other players from the insurance industry, having reported third-quarter earnings so far, the bottom-line results of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) , MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) and RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) outpaced the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.
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CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO): Free Stock Analysis Report
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