Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA)

Key Points

• Donald Smith & CO. Inc. has drastically reduced its stake in CNA Financial Corporation by 99.5%, selling over 514,000 shares and now holding only 2,795 shares valued at $142,000.
• Other institutional investors, such as GAMMA Investing LLC and Hexagon Capital Partners LLC, have increased their stakes in CNA Financial by significant percentages during the same period.
• CNA Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, which equates to an annual yield of 3.9%, with the ex-dividend date on August 18th.

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. decreased its position in CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA - Free Report) by 99.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,795 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 514,983 shares during the quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc.'s holdings in CNA Financial were worth $142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CNA Financial in the first quarter valued at about $467,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CNA Financial in the first quarter valued at about $158,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC increased its position in shares of CNA Financial by 9.9% in the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 15,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CNA Financial by 210.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 862,690 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,816,000 after acquiring an additional 585,076 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in CNA Financial by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 556,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,275,000 after buying an additional 11,019 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Mark Steven James sold 5,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total transaction of $242,475.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 27,059 shares in the company, valued at $1,308,302.65. This represents a 15.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Dino Robusto sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.63, for a total transaction of $297,687.50. Following the sale, the chairman owned 705,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,607,156.44. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CNA Financial Trading Down 0.5%

CNA stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $47.75. The company had a trading volume of 160,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 421,306. CNA Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.29 and a 52 week high of $52.36. The company has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.39 and a 200 day moving average of $47.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.29. CNA Financial had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $3.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. CNA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.32%.

CNA Financial Profile

CNA Financial Corporation provides commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States and internationally. It operates through Specialty, Commercial, International, Life & Group, and Corporate & Other segments. The company offers professional liability coverages and risk management services to various professional firms, including architects, real estate agents, and accounting and law firms; directors and officers, employment practices, fiduciary, and fidelity and cyber coverages to small and mid-size firms, public and privately held firms, and not-for-profit organizations; professional and general liability, as well as associated casualty coverages for healthcare industry; surety and fidelity bonds; and warranty and alternative risks products.