CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) Reaches New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• CNA Financial hit a new 52-week high on Friday, trading as high as $52.99 and closing around $53.19, up about 1.9% on the day.
• Analysts have recently turned a bit more positive: Zacks upgraded CNA from “strong sell” to “hold,” while Weiss Ratings raised its view from “buy (b-)” to “buy (b).”
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, equal to a 3.6% annualized yield, even as its latest earnings missed EPS estimates but revenue came in above expectations.

CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $52.99 and last traded at $53.1850, with a volume of 26885 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of CNA Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CNA Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CNA Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

CNA Financial Stock Up 1.9%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.02. 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 company has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 0.28.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. CNA Financial's payout ratio is 42.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CNA Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CNA. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in CNA Financial by 125.1% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 164,121 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,625,000 after buying an additional 91,205 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in CNA Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $2,632,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of CNA Financial by 8,100.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 484,580 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $23,134,000 after acquiring an additional 478,671 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of CNA Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $1,576,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of CNA Financial by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 867,787 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $41,428,000 after acquiring an additional 178,314 shares during the last quarter. 98.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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