Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF) stock analysis
Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF) clears 8 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 8 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 3 of 5 Lynch-style checks. A free-cash-flow DCF does not fit insurance companies, so no margin of safety is shown. Its earnings quality rates Strong. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Cincinnati Financial do?
Cincinnati Financial sells property and casualty insurance through independent agents, along with life insurance and surplus lines cover.
What stands out about Cincinnati Financial?
- No filter fails. CINF passes 8 of the 8 value filters. See every filter.
- Strongest against peers: net margin. At 25.7% (peer median 14.2%) it ranks 2nd of 23 among insurance stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Insiders have been buying. 1 open-market purchase was reported in SEC Form 4 filings in the last 90 days, about $10.7 million in all. See the Insider Buying Tracker.
- Priced at 8.2 times earnings. Price-to-book is 1.6 and return on equity 20.9%. See the value diligence check.
How has Cincinnati Financial's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Cincinnati Financial undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) n/a (Insurance)
- P/E vs. its own history 8.2x · the middle Real range: 6.3x–10.8x over 4 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 3.62/5 16 analysts this month: 2 strong buy, 6 buy, 8 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub).
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) n/a (Insurance)
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean accruals −1.9% of assets · 120% of profit arrived as cash · share count −0.1% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) 2.7% gross Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 1.9% + buybacks 0.8%. Stock comp is not reported in its filings, so no net figure. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 3%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) n/a (bank, insurer, lender or REIT)
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 1.37 · Above fair P/E 8.2× ÷ 6.0% a year of growth behind it. 147th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 2 of 4 · misses capital-light (n/a), cash back (n/a) Capital-light growth: cannot be measured (bank, insurer, lender or REIT); Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: cannot be measured (stock comp not reported); Fair price (PEG): cleared. See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Munger's Inversion Check 0 flags
- Standing vs. sector peers 4 of 4 measures above the median Compared with the 22 other insurance stocks this site tracks: 4 in the top third, 0 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 0/6 · clean
How does Cincinnati Financial compare with its peers?
4 of 4 measures sit above the median of the 22 other insurance stocks tracked here, 4 in the top third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 13.2× 8.2× ✓4th of 23
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 20% 21% ✓8th of 23
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 14.2% 25.7% ✓2nd of 23
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.75% 1.99% ✓8th of 23
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and CINF clears it. In its favor: CINF is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, carries a conservative amount of debt relative to equity, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry, is trading below what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth - his own "price is what you pay, value is what you get" test, not a fixed multiple ceiling, and trades at a reasonable multiple of owner earnings, his own term for the real cash a business could pay out.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✓
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✓
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✓
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and CINF falls short of his bar. In its favor: CINF isn't leaning on debt to fund that growth, isn't asking too much even by a fast grower's usual richer multiple, and is generating real cash to back up a fast grower's higher price tag. Where it comes up short: CINF doesn't clear the tighter PEG bar a fast grower needs to justify its pace, and is growing earnings outside the 20-50% band he considered sustainable for a fast grower - either not fast enough to earn the label, or a pace he'd flag as unlikely to hold up.
- PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) ✕
- EPS growth 20%-50% ✕
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✓
- P/E < 40 ✓
- Price/FCF < 40 ✓
- Bonus: insiders buying (90d) 1 buy, ~$10.7M
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Cincinnati Financial pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $27.2B
- Trailing P/E < 25 8.19
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 1.37
- Price/Book < 8 1.63
- Price/Sales < 7 2.10
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +85.7%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) +5.9%
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) +6.3%
What is Cincinnati Financial's margin of safety?
A standard free-cash-flow DCF doesn't fit how insurance companies report cash flow.
Where is Cincinnati Financial in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Cincinnati Financial?
4,357,556 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Cincinnati Financial? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case n/a (Insurance)
- Short interest under 5% of float 2.9%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 6/6 passed
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Cincinnati Financial shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from CINF's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Cincinnati Financial's 10-year financials show?
From CINF's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Cincinnati Financial
What kind of company is Cincinnati Financial?
Cincinnati Financial sells property and casualty insurance through independent agents, along with life insurance and surplus lines cover. This site groups it with Insurance stocks.
Why does Cincinnati Financial have no margin of safety on this site?
This site's DCF values a company from its free cash flow, and that does not fit insurers, whose operating cash flow swings with premiums, claims and investment float rather than with what is left over for owners. So CINF gets no margin of safety; judge it on the other checks on this page, such as its filters, shareholder yield and ranking against its peers. The method is in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Cincinnati Financial pass?
CINF passes 8 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($27.2B), Trailing P/E < 25 (8.19), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (1.37), Price/Book < 8 (1.63), Price/Sales < 7 (2.10), EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+85.7%), vs 50-day MA (±12%) (+5.9%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) (+6.3%). The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
How much cash does Cincinnati Financial return to shareholders?
CINF's gross shareholder yield is 2.7%: the cash it returns through dividends and buybacks as a share of its market value. Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 1.9% + buybacks 0.8%. Stock comp is not reported in its filings, so no net figure. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 3%. Its trailing dividend yield is 1.99%, paid out of 16% of its free cash flow; the dividend-sustainability check raises 0 of 6 flags. See Shareholder Yield Leaders and the Sustainable Dividend Screener.
Are Cincinnati Financial's insiders buying its shares?
Yes: 1 open-market insider purchase of Cincinnati Financial shares, worth about $10.7 million in total, was reported in SEC Form 4 filings in the 90 days up to this page's last update. Only open-market purchases count here, not option exercises or stock awards. See the Insider Buying Tracker.
When does Cincinnati Financial report earnings next?
Cincinnati Financial's next earnings report is expected on October 26, 2026 after the market closes, with analysts expecting earnings of $2.03 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 3 times, by an average of +8.0%.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Cincinnati Financial's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 23, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Cincinnati Financial Corp analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.