Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 15,926 Shares of CNA Financial Corporation $CNA

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) by 61.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 15,926 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in CNA Financial were worth $468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CORDA Investment Management LLC. increased its stake in CNA Financial by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 701,884 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,610,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of CNA Financial by 145.6% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 214,575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,984,000 after buying an additional 127,223 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CNA Financial by 18.8% during the third quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 502,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,352,000 after buying an additional 79,698 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of CNA Financial by 362.6% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 40,350 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after acquiring an additional 31,628 shares during the period. Finally, Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. raised its stake in CNA Financial by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. now owns 145,703 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,599,000 after acquiring an additional 17,048 shares during the last quarter. 98.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CNA Financial Stock Performance

NYSE CNA opened at $50.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. CNA Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.29 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The insurance provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. CNA Financial had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 8.53%.During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that CNA Financial Corporation will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

CNA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $2.00 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 407.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. CNA Financial’s payout ratio is 39.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Dino Robusto sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.62, for a total transaction of $297,625.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 661,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,516,725.56. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded CNA Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded CNA Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CNA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.