Short Interest in Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) Expands By 9.9%

Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,110,000 shares, an increase of 9.9% from the September 15th total of 1,920,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 584,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CINF. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cincinnati Financial by 39.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 981,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $115,758,000 after purchasing an additional 277,550 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Cincinnati Financial by 16.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,349,462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,360,000 after buying an additional 187,934 shares during the period. Natixis acquired a new position in Cincinnati Financial during the first quarter worth about $22,053,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Cincinnati Financial by 10.6% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,115,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $131,739,000 after buying an additional 107,081 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 126.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 180,009 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $21,259,000 after purchasing an additional 100,487 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CINF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Cincinnati Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Cincinnati Financial from $149.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.29.

Cincinnati Financial Stock Performance

Shares of CINF stock traded up $3.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $141.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,007,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 713,011. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.66. Cincinnati Financial has a twelve month low of $96.86 and a twelve month high of $141.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $134.51 and its 200 day moving average is $124.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Cincinnati Financial had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 20.20%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cincinnati Financial will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cincinnati Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Cincinnati Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.