Caxton Associates LLP Sells 9,760 Shares of CNA Financial Corporation $CNA

Caxton Associates LLP cut its stake in CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,624 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,760 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP’s holdings in CNA Financial were worth $1,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in CNA Financial by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CNA Financial by 6.8% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of CNA Financial by 2.9% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of CNA Financial by 13.8% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Uncommon Cents Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of CNA Financial by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 26,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of CNA opened at $53.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 0.28. CNA Financial Corporation has a one year low of $41.53 and a one year high of $53.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNA shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CNA Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of CNA Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CNA Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About CNA Financial

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.