CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $42.75 and last traded at $42.7610, with a volume of 108208 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered CNA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered CNA Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered CNA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CNA Financial has an average rating of “Hold”.

CNA Financial Stock Down 1.8%

The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.79.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.47). CNA Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

CNA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. CNA Financial’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insider Activity at CNA Financial

In other news, SVP Jeffrey John Neuenschwander sold 3,287 shares of CNA Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total transaction of $151,103.39. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,277 shares in the company, valued at $334,523.69. The trade was a 31.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CNA Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,682 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $132,941,000 after purchasing an additional 354,076 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of CNA Financial by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,560,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $74,505,000 after purchasing an additional 376,752 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CNA Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 890,953 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of CNA Financial by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 867,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,428,000 after purchasing an additional 178,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CORDA Investment Management LLC. increased its position in shares of CNA Financial by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 730,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,532,000 after purchasing an additional 10,054 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

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.