CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $1.36 Per Share, Zacks Research Forecasts

CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) – Research analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of CNA Financial in a note issued to investors on Friday, April 19th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now anticipates that the insurance provider will post earnings of $1.36 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.32. The consensus estimate for CNA Financial’s current full-year earnings is $5.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for CNA Financial’s Q3 2024 earnings at $1.11 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.16 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $5.12 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.23 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.14 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.87 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.85 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of CNA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America lowered CNA Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CNA Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

CNA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNA opened at $44.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.64. CNA Financial has a 1 year low of $36.41 and a 1 year high of $47.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.23. CNA Financial had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS.

Institutional Trading of CNA Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNA. Loews Corp grew its position in shares of CNA Financial by 1.8% during the third quarter. Loews Corp now owns 248,414,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,775,120,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456,050 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CNA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,296,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in CNA Financial by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,178,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,851,000 after buying an additional 199,209 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in CNA Financial by 93.6% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 306,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,968,000 after buying an additional 148,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WBI Investments Inc. purchased a new position in CNA Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,939,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $2.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from CNA Financial’s previous None dividend of $1.62. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.73%.

CNA Financial Company Profile

CNA Financial Corporation provides commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States and internationally. It operates through Specialty, Commercial, International, Life & Group, and Corporate & Other segments. The company offers professional liability coverages and risk management services to various professional firms, including architects, real estate agents, and accounting and law firms; directors and officers, employment practices, fiduciary, and fidelity and cyber coverages to small and mid-size firms, public and privately held firms, and not-for-profit organizations; professional and general liability, as well as associated casualty coverages for healthcare industry; surety and fidelity bonds; and warranty and alternative risks products.