CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) Shares Purchased by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA – Get Rating) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in CNA Financial were worth $557,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in CNA Financial by 258.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CNA Financial during the first quarter worth $27,000. Credit Suisse AG acquired a new stake in shares of CNA Financial during the second quarter worth $38,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in CNA Financial by 263.6% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in CNA Financial by 131.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,408 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:CNA opened at $39.27 on Monday. CNA Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $35.90 and a 1 year high of $46.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. CNA Financial had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 12.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CNA Financial Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from CNA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. CNA Financial’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at CNA Financial

In other news, major shareholder Corp Loews acquired 4,800 shares of CNA Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.79 per share, with a total value of $190,992.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 243,958,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,707,116,195.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of CNA Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on CNA Financial in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock.

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.