CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

CNA Financial Trading Up 1.7%

CNA stock opened at $52.29 on Thursday. CNA Financial has a 1-year low of $41.53 and a 1-year high of $52.98. 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 capitalization of $14.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.89.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that CNA Financial will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNA Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in CNA Financial by 12.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,080 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in CNA Financial by 41.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 135,873 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,239,000 after acquiring an additional 40,130 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in CNA Financial by 1.2% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 119,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in CNA Financial by 18.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,222 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of CNA Financial by 48.9% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 685,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,467,000 after purchasing an additional 225,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

About CNA Financial

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.