Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,006,254 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 224,033 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 3.84% of Cincinnati Financial worth $863,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,030,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,013,000 after buying an additional 27,301 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 795,780 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $114,354,000 after buying an additional 18,192 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 13.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 534,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,736,000 after buying an additional 61,801 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 49.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 445,337 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,619,000 after buying an additional 147,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 427,595 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $61,445,000 after buying an additional 9,529 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.00.

Cincinnati Financial Price Performance

CINF opened at $147.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $139.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.52. Cincinnati Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $109.93 and a twelve month high of $161.74.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $1.24. Cincinnati Financial had a net margin of 20.22% and a return on equity of 9.01%. Equities analysts expect that Cincinnati Financial Co. will post 5.36 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is a boost from Cincinnati Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Cincinnati Financial’s payout ratio is currently 23.97%.

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.