Legal & General Group Plc Acquires New Position in CNA Financial Corporation $CNA

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of CNA Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in CNA Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in CNA Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in CNA Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in CNA Financial by 142.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. 98.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CNA. Weiss Ratings raised CNA Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised CNA Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Daniel Franzetti sold 22,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total value of $1,202,807.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 68,032 shares in the company, valued at $3,611,818.88. This trade represents a 24.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark James sold 8,273 shares of CNA Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.15, for a total value of $439,709.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,604.90. The trade was a 23.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of CNA stock opened at $47.83 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.77. CNA Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $41.53 and a 52 week high of $55.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 0.27.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The insurance provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.11. CNA Financial had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

CNA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.20%.

CNA Financial Profile

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.