Brandes Investment Partners LP Makes New $211,000 Investment in CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA)

Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new position in CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,993 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNA. Loews Corp grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,456,050 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CNA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,296,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position in CNA Financial by 20.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in CNA Financial by 93.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, WBI Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in CNA Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,939,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:CNA traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $44.83. The company had a trading volume of 30,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,582. The company has a market cap of $12.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. CNA Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $36.41 and a 1 year high of $47.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.24 and a 200 day moving average of $43.32.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. CNA Financial had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 9.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CNA Financial Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

CNA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from CNA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNA. Bank of America downgraded CNA Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CNA Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised CNA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th.

Insider Activity at CNA Financial

In related news, CAO Daniel Paul Franzetti sold 23,301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.78, for a total transaction of $1,043,418.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 63,996 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,865,740.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.