CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) Issues Earnings Results

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.07), Briefing.com reports. CNA Financial had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS.

CNA Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

CNA stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $45.03. 54,982 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 214,412. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $44.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.63. CNA Financial has a 52-week low of $36.41 and a 52-week high of $47.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

CNA Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from CNA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CNA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CNA Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America lowered CNA Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CNA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CNA Financial news, CAO Daniel Paul Franzetti sold 23,301 shares of CNA Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.78, for a total transaction of $1,043,418.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 63,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,865,740.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About CNA Financial

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.