Paragon Capital Management Ltd Buys New Shares in CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,429 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co acquired a new position in shares of CNA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CNA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of CNA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of CNA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of CNA Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. 98.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Daniel Paul Franzetti sold 23,301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were 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 directly owns 63,996 shares in the company, valued at $2,865,740.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of CNA Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of CNA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th.

CNA Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNA traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.37. The stock had a trading volume of 289,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 313,326. The firm has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. CNA Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $37.54 and a twelve month high of $47.37.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.07). CNA Financial had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 9.17%. 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 business posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that CNA Financial Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is an increase from CNA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. CNA Financial’s payout ratio is presently 38.43%.

CNA Financial Profile

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.