Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Buys Shares of 2,132 Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,132 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,167,705 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,754,399,000 after acquiring an additional 173,417 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 224,033 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,930,022 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,323,000 after buying an additional 185,705 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,672,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $240,297,000 after buying an additional 162,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,959,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Cincinnati Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:CINF opened at $147.80 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $139.59 and a 200-day moving average of $142.80. Cincinnati Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $111.92 and a 52 week high of $161.75. The company has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 0.73.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The insurance provider reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.61) by $0.37. Cincinnati Financial had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 20.22%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cincinnati Financial Co. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cincinnati Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Cincinnati Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CINF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $182.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cincinnati Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.40.

Cincinnati Financial Company 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.