CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $52.86 and last traded at $51.8460, with a volume of 587680 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNA shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of CNA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CNA Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CNA Financial has an average rating of “Hold”.

CNA Financial Trading Up 0.3%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 0.28.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. CNA Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 11.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

CNA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.95%.

Institutional Trading of CNA Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi lifted its holdings in CNA Financial by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CNA Financial by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 351,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,878,000 after buying an additional 2,466 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of CNA Financial by 12.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,966 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of CNA Financial during the first quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of CNA Financial during the second quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial Company Profile

CNA Financial Corporation is a leading U.S.-based commercial property and casualty insurance company offering a broad portfolio of risk management and insurance solutions. The company underwrites coverage for businesses of all sizes across a variety of industry sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, energy, technology, construction and real estate. In addition to core property and casualty insurance, CNA delivers specialized products such as surety bonds, professional liability, environmental liability and commercial auto coverage.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, CNA traces its origins to the founding of Continental Casualty Company in 1897.