Sei Investments Co. Lowers Stock Position in CNA Financial Corporation $CNA

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its holdings in CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) by 56.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,150 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,435 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in CNA Financial were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNA. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of CNA Financial by 8,100.7% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 484,580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,134,000 after buying an additional 478,671 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CNA Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $1,576,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of CNA Financial by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 867,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,428,000 after buying an additional 178,314 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of CNA Financial by 34.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,101,092 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $96,482,000 after buying an additional 540,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of CNA Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $607,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Daniel Paul Franzetti sold 22,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total value of $1,202,807.04. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 68,032 shares in the company, valued at $3,611,818.88. This represents a 24.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Steven James sold 8,273 shares of CNA Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.15, for a total value of $439,709.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,604.90. This represents a 23.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CNA. Weiss Ratings raised CNA Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised CNA Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

CNA Financial Stock Performance

NYSE CNA opened at $50.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 0.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.71. CNA Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $41.53 and a 12-month high of $55.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The insurance provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. CNA Financial had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 11.34%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Research analysts expect that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

CNA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.20%.

About CNA Financial

CNA Financial Corporation is a leading U.S.-based commercial property and casualty insurance company offering a broad portfolio of risk management and insurance solutions. The company underwrites coverage for businesses of all sizes across a variety of industry sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, energy, technology, construction and real estate. In addition to core property and casualty insurance, CNA delivers specialized products such as surety bonds, professional liability, environmental liability and commercial auto coverage.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, CNA traces its origins to the founding of Continental Casualty Company in 1897.