The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Cincinnati Financial Corporation $CINF

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 77,843 Cincinnati Financial shares worth approximately $14.4 million, while institutional investors collectively own 65.24% of the insurer.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $195.40, despite some recent downgrades and target-price reductions.
• Cincinnati Financial reported quarterly EPS of $1.43, below the $1.82 consensus estimate, but declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, equivalent to a 2.2% annualized yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CINF - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 77,843 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,412,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.05% of Cincinnati Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,542,265 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,357,825,000 after buying an additional 26,475 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,632,071 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,083,151,000 after acquiring an additional 97,761 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,125,979 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $671,265,000 after acquiring an additional 25,888 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 59.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 784,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 4.2% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,011,505 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $299,553,000 after purchasing an additional 80,487 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cincinnati Financial from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Cincinnati Financial from $201.00 to $190.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Atlantic Securities set a $197.00 price objective on shares of Cincinnati Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Cincinnati Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $197.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cincinnati Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.40.

Insider Transactions at Cincinnati Financial

In related news, Director Dirk J. Debbink acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $171.64 per share, with a total value of $171,640.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 62,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,651,806.76. This represents a 1.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cincinnati Financial Stock Performance

CINF stock opened at $171.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $178.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.68. Cincinnati Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $150.00 and a twelve month high of $194.81. The firm has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.11, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.54.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $4.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.71 billion. Cincinnati Financial had a net margin of 23.84% and a return on equity of 9.63%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Cincinnati Financial Corporation will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cincinnati Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Cincinnati Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.74%.

Cincinnati Financial 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.

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