Plato Investment Management Ltd Grows Position in Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) by 6,747.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,148 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,956 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Cincinnati Financial were worth $1,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CINF. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 188,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,367,000 after acquiring an additional 7,709 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 349,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,123,000 after buying an additional 46,595 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 40.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 168,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,904,000 after buying an additional 48,597 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cincinnati Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $888,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cincinnati Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $179,305,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CINF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $143.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup upgraded Cincinnati Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Cincinnati Financial from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.57.

Cincinnati Financial Price Performance

Shares of Cincinnati Financial stock traded down $0.68 on Thursday, hitting $129.94. 1,713,582 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 793,913. Cincinnati Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $96.86 and a 1-year high of $132.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $118.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.65.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.33. Cincinnati Financial had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 20.20%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cincinnati Financial Co. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cincinnati Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Cincinnati Financial’s payout ratio is currently 21.56%.

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.