Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Stake in Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,185 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,463 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Cincinnati Financial were worth $3,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Cincinnati Financial by 20.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 61,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,334,000 after buying an additional 10,208 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 3.9% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 39.3% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,865 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,343,000 after buying an additional 2,785 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 1.1% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 31,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,333,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 10.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 117,393 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,923,000 after purchasing an additional 11,282 shares in the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CINF shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Cincinnati Financial from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cincinnati Financial news, Director Dirk J. Debbink acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $157.19 per share, with a total value of $157,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,566,855. This trade represents a 1.87 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cincinnati Financial Price Performance

Shares of Cincinnati Financial stock opened at $135.14 on Monday. Cincinnati Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $109.93 and a 12 month high of $161.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $140.12 and a 200 day moving average of $140.91. The firm has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.31, a PEG ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Cincinnati Financial Increases Dividend

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