Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) Holdings Lowered by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,139,923 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 176,610 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.73% of Cincinnati Financial worth $163,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 18,174 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,474,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Cincinnati Financial by 69.7% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 8,207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Cincinnati Financial by 1.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 93,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Cincinnati Financial by 32.2% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,816 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cincinnati Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $182.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.40.

Cincinnati Financial Stock Up 6.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CINF opened at $134.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $140.22 and its 200-day moving average is $142.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cincinnati Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $109.93 and a 1 year high of $161.75.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $1.24. Cincinnati Financial had a net margin of 20.22% and a return on equity of 9.01%. Equities analysts expect that Cincinnati Financial Co. will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Cincinnati Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Cincinnati Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. Cincinnati Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.97%.

Cincinnati Financial Profile

Cincinnati Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property casualty insurance products in the United States. It operates through five segments: Commercial Lines Insurance, Personal Lines Insurance, Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance, Life Insurance, and Investments. The Commercial Lines Insurance segment offers coverage for commercial casualty, commercial property, commercial auto, and workers' compensation.