CNO Financial Group, Inc. CNO reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.29, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 41.8%. The bottom line rose from 79 cents a year ago.
Operating revenues of $1.1 billion advanced 4.1% year over year. The top line surpassed the consensus mark by 6.9%.
The strong quarterly results were supported by strong collected premiums from life and health products, rising new annualized premiums and higher fee revenues. Nevertheless, the upside was partly offset by a rise in total benefits and expenses as a result of higher insurance policy benefits.
CNO Financial Group, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
CNO Financial Group, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | CNO Financial Group, Inc. Quote
CNO's Q1 Performance
Total insurance policy income rose 3.5% year over year to $673.4 million. The metric was aided by improved collected premiums from annuity, life and health products.
Total investment losses were $22.7 million, wider than the prior-year quarter’s loss of $6.8 million. General account assets grew 5.3% year over year to $395 million. Policyholder and other special-purpose portfolios totaled negative $64.9 million compared with the prior-year quarter’s negative $63.6 million.
Fee revenues and other income rose 0.3% year over year to $48.8 million.
Annuity collected premiums of $433.8 million, declining 1.9% year over year, while health collected premiums increased 5.5% to $428 million. Collected premiums from life products totaled $249.8 million, which rose 2.2% year over year. The total collected premiums advanced 1.8% year over year to $1.1 billion.
New annualized premiums for health products rose 17.5% year over year, while the same for life products climbed 4.8%. Annuity, Health and Life products accounted for 22.8%, 51.6% and 25.6%, respectively, of CNO's insurance margin.
Total benefits and expenses rose 0.5% year over year to $981.2 million due to higher insurance policy benefits.
CNO’s Financial Update (As of March 31, 2026)
CNO Financial exited the first quarter with unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, which rose 18.1% from the 2025-end level.
Total assets of $39 billion rose 0.4% from the figure at 2025-end.
The debt-to-capital was 34.6% at the first-quarter end, which deteriorated 120 basis points (bps) from the 2025-end figure.
Total shareholders’ equity declined 5.3% from the 2025-end level to $2.5 billion.
Book value per common share was $26.64, which decreased 4.6% from the figure at 2025-end.
Operating return on equity, excluding significant items, improved 30 bps year over year to 12.2% at the first-quarter end.
CNO Financial’s Share Repurchase & Dividend Update
CNO Financial rewarded its shareholders with $60 million in the form of share buybacks and $17.1 million in dividends during the first quarter.
As of March 31, 2026, the company had a leftover repurchase capacity of $360.4 million.
CNO Reaffirms 2026 Guidance
CNO Financial reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, indicating confidence in the current operating trajectory. The company still anticipates operating EPS to be in the range of $4.25-$4.45, the mid-point of which indicates a 1.1% decline from the 2025 reported figure of $4.40.
For 2026, management still estimates excess cash flow of $200-$250 million to the holding company.
The company continues to project the expense ratio to be in the band of 18.8-19.2% for 2026. It estimates the effective tax rate to be around 22.5%. Management still aims to achieve leverage within the band of 25-28%.
CNO’s Zacks Rank
CNO currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
How Did Peers Perform?
Several companies in the insurance space, including RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. RNR, AMERISAFE, Inc. AMSF and The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. HIG, have already reported their financial results for the March quarter of 2026. Here’s how they had performed:
RenaissanceRe reported first-quarter 2026 operating income of $13.75 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 24.2%. The bottom line improved from the year-ago quarter’s operating loss of $1.49. Total operating revenues declined 16.6% year over year to $2.6 billion. The top line missed the consensus mark by 10.6%. RNR’s quarterly earnings were aided by a decline in expenses and strong underwriting performance in both segments. Improved combined ratio and fee income contributed to the upside. However, the upside was partly offset by lower net premiums earned across both segments.
AMERISAFE reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of 50 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents. The bottom line declined 16.7% year over year. Operating revenues increased 7.9% year over year to $81.75 million but missed the consensus estimate by 0.9%. AMSF’s quarterly result was affected by higher expenses and weaker underwriting margins, with additional pressure from lower fee income and weaker investment income. Stronger premium growth partially offsets the downside.
Hartford posted first-quarter fiscal 2026 core earnings per share of $3.09, up 40.5% from $2.20 in the prior-year quarter. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.29 by 6.1%. Operating revenues totaled $5.09 billion, up 7% year over year, but missed the consensus mark by 2.1%. HIG’s weaker-than-expected results were caused by less favorable prior-year reserve development, higher expenses and pressure in Employee Benefits. The negatives were partially offset by high demand for expensive risk events, stronger investment income and a massive turnaround in Personal Insurance.
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