Captrust Financial Advisors Increases Position in CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) by 200.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,586 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in CNA Financial were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNA. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CNA Financial by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,939,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,806,000 after buying an additional 567,926 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CNA Financial by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,177,110 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $56,937,000 after purchasing an additional 468,058 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CNA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,859,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CNA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,129,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of CNA Financial by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,486,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $71,919,000 after purchasing an additional 249,346 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered CNA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on CNA Financial from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

CNA Financial Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CNA opened at $49.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a PEG ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.60. CNA Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $42.85 and a 52-week high of $52.36.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $3.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. CNA Financial had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 6.72%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CNA Financial Co. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

CNA Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CNA Financial news, Chairman Dino Robusto sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.61, for a total transaction of $297,562.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 711,838 shares in the company, valued at $33,890,607.18. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Daniel Paul Franzetti sold 12,991 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.06, for a total value of $637,338.46. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 75,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,709,524.72. This represents a 14.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,741 shares of company stock worth $1,559,401 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial 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.