Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) saw a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, a decrease of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 2,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 637,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CINF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded Cincinnati Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Cincinnati Financial from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Cincinnati Financial from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Cincinnati Financial from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cincinnati Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 163,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 252.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 79,063 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,180,000 after purchasing an additional 28,457 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 24,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC purchased a new position in Cincinnati Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Cincinnati Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:CINF traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $137.30. 139,195 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 725,003. The firm has a market cap of $21.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.66. Cincinnati Financial has a 52 week low of $96.86 and a 52 week high of $139.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.33. Cincinnati Financial had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 20.20%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cincinnati Financial will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cincinnati Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Cincinnati Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.56%.

About Cincinnati Financial

Cincinnati Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property casualty insurance products in the United States. It operates through five segments: Commercial Lines Insurance, Personal Lines Insurance, Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance, Life Insurance, and Investments. The Commercial Lines Insurance segment offers coverage for commercial casualty, commercial property, commercial auto, and workers' compensation.