Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stock Holdings in CNA Financial Corporation $CNA

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) by 398.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,771 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in CNA Financial were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

CNA Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:CNA opened at $54.20 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.12. CNA Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $41.53 and a fifty-two week high of $54.60.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.47). CNA Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

CNA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. CNA Financial’s payout ratio is presently 42.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of CNA Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CNA Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.