CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of CNA Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

CNA Financial Price Performance

Shares of CNA opened at $52.29 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.89. CNA Financial has a 52-week low of $41.53 and a 52-week high of $52.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.28.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.47). CNA Financial had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 8.08%.The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that CNA Financial will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in CNA Financial by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,682 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $132,941,000 after buying an additional 354,076 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in CNA Financial by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,101,092 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $96,482,000 after acquiring an additional 540,448 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,348 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 178,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CORDA Investment Management LLC. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 10,054 shares in the last quarter. 98.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.