Abner Herrman & Brock LLC Takes Position in CNA Financial Corporation $CNA

Abner Herrman & Brock LLC purchased a new position in CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 15,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CNA. Amundi raised its position in shares of CNA Financial by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CNA Financial by 0.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 351,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,878,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in CNA Financial by 12.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,966 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in CNA Financial in the first quarter worth $281,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in CNA Financial by 102.3% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 785 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. 98.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNA. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CNA Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CNA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of CNA Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CNA Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Dino Robusto sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.62, for a total value of $297,625.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 661,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,516,725.56. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE CNA opened at $45.14 on Friday. CNA Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.29 and a 12 month high of $51.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.86. The stock has a market cap of $12.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.34.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The insurance provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. CNA Financial had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 8.53%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a yield of 409.0%. CNA Financial’s payout ratio is 40.94%.

CNA Financial 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.