Legal & General Group Plc Buys Shares of 1,082,054 Cincinnati Financial Corporation $CINF

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CINF) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,082,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,331,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cincinnati Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $270,892,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cincinnati Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $216,679,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,104,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $331,136,000 after buying an additional 784,584 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 601,033 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,161,000 after buying an additional 396,086 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 48.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 803,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $119,682,000 after buying an additional 262,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CINF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Cincinnati Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $197.00 to $193.00 in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Atlantic Securities set a $197.00 target price on shares of Cincinnati Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Roth Capital boosted their target price on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $201.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Cincinnati Financial from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cincinnati Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.40.

Cincinnati Financial Price Performance

CINF stock opened at $172.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.54. Cincinnati Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $150.00 and a 1 year high of $194.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $178.01 and its 200-day moving average is $168.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.39). Cincinnati Financial had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 23.84%.The firm had revenue of $4.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cincinnati Financial Corporation will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cincinnati Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. Cincinnati Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.74%.

Cincinnati Financial Company Profile

Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: CINF) is an insurance holding company headquartered in the Cincinnati area of Ohio that provides property and casualty insurance products and related services. Founded as part of the Cincinnati Insurance group, the company operates through a set of insurance subsidiaries to underwrite and service policies for both personal and commercial customers. Cincinnati Financial is publicly traded and emphasizes underwriting discipline and long-term relationships with its distribution partners and policyholders.

The company’s core business centers on property and casualty insurance, including homeowners, automobile, commercial casualty, commercial multi-peril, and specialty commercial coverages.