Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 7,351 Shares of Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,091 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,351 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Cincinnati Financial were worth $10,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,006,254 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $863,099,000 after acquiring an additional 224,033 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,332,689 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $191,507,000 after purchasing an additional 8,736 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,030,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,013,000 after purchasing an additional 27,301 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 795,780 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $114,354,000 after purchasing an additional 18,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 534,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,736,000 after buying an additional 61,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CINF shares. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Cincinnati Financial from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cincinnati Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.00.

Cincinnati Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ CINF opened at $147.68 on Thursday. Cincinnati Financial Co. has a one year low of $109.93 and a one year high of $161.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.28.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Cincinnati Financial Co. will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cincinnati Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. This is a positive change from Cincinnati Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th. Cincinnati Financial’s payout ratio is presently 23.97%.

About Cincinnati Financial

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.