Reasons to Sell CNO and 1 Stock to Buy Instead Adam Hejl Mon, October 12, 2026 at 5:11 PM EDT 2 min read CNO +0.42% ^GSPC -0.06% Trade CNO on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Over the past six months, CNO Financial Group has been a great trade, beating the S&P 500 by 11.4%. Its stock price has climbed to $52.99, representing a healthy 24.2% increase. This was partly due to its solid quarterly results, and the run-up might have investors contemplating their next move.
We're happy investors have made money, but we're passing on CNO Financial Group for now. Here are three reasons you should be careful with CNO, plus one stock we'd rather own.
Insurers sell policies then use reinsurance (insurance for insurance companies) to protect themselves from large losses. Net premiums earned are therefore what's collected from selling policies less what's paid to reinsurers as a risk mitigation tool.
CNO Financial Group's net premiums earned has grown at a 1.2% annualized rate over the last five years, much worse than the broader insurance industry and in line with its total revenue.
In the insurance industry, book value per share (BVPS) provides a clear picture of shareholder value, as it represents the total equity backing a company's insurance operations and growth initiatives.
To the detriment of investors, CNO Financial Group's BVPS grew at a mediocre 10.7% annual clip over the last two years.
We see the value of companies helping consumers, but in the case of CNO Financial Group, we're out. With its shares topping the market in recent months, the stock trades at 1.8× forward P/B (or $52.99 per share). At this valuation, there's a lot of good news priced in - we think there are better stocks to buy right now. We'd recommend looking at the Amazon and PayPal of Latin America.
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