Meritage Portfolio Management Acquires Shares of 28,809 Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF)

Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in shares of Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 28,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,981,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CINF. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 11.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 24,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Cincinnati Financial during the 4th quarter worth $21,036,000. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 46,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,797,000 after acquiring an additional 7,450 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 92.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 236,410 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $24,182,000 after acquiring an additional 113,653 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 163.2% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 63,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,510,000 after purchasing an additional 39,464 shares in the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cincinnati Financial Price Performance

Shares of CINF traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $118.44. 700,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 859,621. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.96. Cincinnati Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $95.01 and a fifty-two week high of $124.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.03. Cincinnati Financial had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Cincinnati Financial Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cincinnati Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Cincinnati Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Cincinnati Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CINF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Cincinnati Financial from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet raised Cincinnati Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Cincinnati Financial in a report on Monday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Cincinnati Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Cincinnati Financial from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.57.

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.