Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) Upgraded to Buy by Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $135.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $126.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Cincinnati Financial in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Cincinnati Financial from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Cincinnati Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $127.80.

Cincinnati Financial Stock Performance

Shares of CINF stock opened at $118.10 on Friday. Cincinnati Financial has a one year low of $95.40 and a one year high of $124.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.86, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.65.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. Cincinnati Financial had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 22.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cincinnati Financial will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Cincinnati Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Cincinnati Financial’s payout ratio is currently 21.56%.

Insider Activity at Cincinnati Financial

In related news, Director Dirk J. Debbink purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $113.47 per share, with a total value of $113,470.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 53,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,126,018.36. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CINF. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 42,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,364,000 after purchasing an additional 15,118 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 96,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,902,000 after purchasing an additional 27,652 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 321,047 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,840,000 after purchasing an additional 33,435 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,023 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 172.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 34,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,536,000 after purchasing an additional 21,889 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

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.