Comparing CNA Financial (CNA) and Its Competitors

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) is one of 311 publicly-traded companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare CNA Financial to similar companies based on the strength of its profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.5% of CNA Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.9% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of CNA Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.4% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares CNA Financial and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNA Financial	$14.99 billion	$1.28 billion	12.86
CNA Financial Competitors	$15.27 billion	$1.70 billion	33.63

CNA Financial’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than CNA Financial. CNA Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares CNA Financial and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNA Financial	6.80%	9.74%	1.55%
CNA Financial Competitors	8.64%	-9.90%	4.10%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for CNA Financial and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNA Financial	0	1	1	0	2.50
CNA Financial Competitors	3347	15712	16557	747	2.40

As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 4.26%. Given CNA Financial’s peers higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CNA Financial has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Risk and Volatility

CNA Financial has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CNA Financial’s peers have a beta of -1.59, indicating that their average share price is 259% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

CNA Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. CNA Financial pays out 50.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 31.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. CNA Financial has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years.

Summary

CNA Financial peers beat CNA Financial on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

CNA Financial Company Profile

CNA Financial Corporation is a commercial property and casualty insurance company headquartered in Chicago. It provides coverage and related risk-management services to businesses and organizations, with offerings that include property, casualty, workers’ compensation, professional liability and surety insurance. The company serves customers across the United States and in select international markets. Its products are distributed through independent agents and brokers, and its specialty insurance operations address the needs of businesses in a range of industries.