Ballast Inc. Has $290,000 Stock Position in Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF)

Ballast Inc. lowered its position in Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,805 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Cincinnati Financial were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cincinnati Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,976,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Cincinnati Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $133,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,512 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 32,828 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,396,000 after purchasing an additional 4,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CINF shares. TheStreet upgraded Cincinnati Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised Cincinnati Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Cincinnati Financial in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.71.

Cincinnati Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

Cincinnati Financial stock opened at $124.17 on Friday. Cincinnati Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $95.01 and a 12 month high of $124.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.84. The stock has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.62.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The insurance provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Cincinnati Financial had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 18.41%. Cincinnati Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cincinnati Financial Co. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Cincinnati Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. This is a positive change from Cincinnati Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. Cincinnati Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.76%.

About Cincinnati Financial

Cincinnati Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property casualty insurance products in the United States. It operates through five segments: Commercial Lines Insurance, Personal Lines Insurance, Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance, Life Insurance, and Investments. The Commercial Lines Insurance segment offers coverage for commercial casualty, commercial property, commercial auto, and workers' compensation.