CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) Declares $0.44 Quarterly Dividend

CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 4th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of 0.44 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th.

CNA Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% per year over the last three years. CNA Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 33.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect CNA Financial to earn $4.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.1%.

CNA Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CNA opened at $48.99 on Friday. CNA Financial has a 1 year low of $39.35 and a 1 year high of $52.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.56. The company has a market cap of $13.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. CNA Financial had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 9.26%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that CNA Financial will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNA Financial

In other news, EVP Douglas Worman sold 22,973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.75, for a total transaction of $1,119,933.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 133,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,521,628.75. This trade represents a 14.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth Ann Aguinaga sold 26,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.60, for a total transaction of $1,297,536.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,368,102.40. This trade represents a 35.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,355,577 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNA. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CNA Financial from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CNA Financial from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of CNA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

CNA Financial Company 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.