William Blair Comments on CNA Financial Co.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:CNA)

CNA Financial Co. (NYSE:CNA) – Stock analysts at William Blair boosted their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for shares of CNA Financial in a report released on Tuesday, May 7th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now anticipates that the insurance provider will post earnings of $1.26 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.23. The consensus estimate for CNA Financial’s current full-year earnings is $5.03 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for CNA Financial’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.28 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $5.14 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.55 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.30 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $5.45 EPS.

CNA Financial (NYSE:CNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.07). CNA Financial had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CNA. Bank of America downgraded shares of CNA Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $39.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of CNA Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CNA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

CNA Financial Price Performance

Shares of CNA stock opened at $44.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.99. CNA Financial has a one year low of $36.41 and a one year high of $47.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.63.

Institutional Trading of CNA Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position in CNA Financial by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,178,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,851,000 after buying an additional 199,209 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in CNA Financial by 93.6% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 306,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,968,000 after purchasing an additional 148,174 shares during the period. Loews Corp raised its holdings in CNA Financial by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Loews Corp now owns 248,414,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,775,120,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456,050 shares during the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in CNA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $418,000. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its position in CNA Financial by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 180,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,098,000 after purchasing an additional 14,955 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.45% of the company’s stock.

CNA Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from CNA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. CNA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.73%.

About CNA Financial

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.