CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) Plans $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th.

CNA Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 9 consecutive years. CNA Financial has a payout ratio of 38.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect CNA Financial to earn $4.78 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.2%.

CNA Financial Trading Up 1.9%

CNA Financial stock traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $53.48. 647,544 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 492,665. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 0.28. CNA Financial has a fifty-two week low of $41.53 and a fifty-two week high of $55.71.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last posted its 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. CNA Financial had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 8.08%.The firm had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CNA Financial will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded CNA Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of CNA Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

CNA Financial Company Profile

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.