Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA – Get Rating) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,423 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,372 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in CNA Financial were worth $2,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CNA. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of CNA Financial by 6.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,653,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,403,000 after acquiring an additional 104,417 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al purchased a new stake in CNA Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,616,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in CNA Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,464,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in CNA Financial by 8.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,150,456 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,935,000 after purchasing an additional 92,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of CNA Financial by 260.2% during the third quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 115,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,279,000 after buying an additional 83,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNA. Bank of America upgraded CNA Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on CNA Financial in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company.

CNA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNA opened at $39.40 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. CNA Financial Co. has a one year low of $35.90 and a one year high of $46.52. The firm has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.01). CNA Financial had a return on equity of 12.05% and a net margin of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that CNA Financial Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

CNA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This is a positive change from CNA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CNA Financial news, major shareholder Corp Loews purchased 34,996 shares of CNA Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.93 per share, for a total transaction of $1,362,394.28. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 243,918,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,495,753,394.87. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CNA Financial Company Profile

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CNA Financial Corp. engages in the provision of insurance holdings. It operates through the following business segments: Specialty, Commercial, and International. The Specialty segment provides professional, financial, and specialty property and casualty products and services. The Commercial segment includes property and casualty coverages sold to small businesses and middle market entities and organizations primarily through an independent agency distribution system.