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CNA Financial Corp (CNA) — wheel strategy suitability

Where CNA sits as an underlying for selling cash-secured puts and covered calls, and what its own price history says about the risk of being assigned into a falling stock. Snapshot of 3 October 2026.

No longer in the preferred band. CNA scored above 70 when this page was first published and scores 66 today. The page is kept and updated rather than removed, so the change is visible rather than silently deleted.
66
Acceptable
Wheel score is a landmine-avoidance filter, not a return forecast. It is reliable at flagging names to avoid and weaker at finely ranking the names that pass — read the band, not the decimal place.

CNA Financial Corp (CNA) scores 66 on the Wheel score, which puts it in the acceptable band — it passes the profitability and options filters but is not among the strongest candidates.

Its components sit close together (quality 65, valuation 76, margin stability —), so no single factor is doing the work.

It has monthly options only, which costs it a small liquidity haircut. Workable, but every roll commits you for a month.

Earnings are roughly 30 days out — fine for a short-dated contract that expires first, tight for a monthly.

Over the last 3.0 years it had 0 days with a fall of 10% or more (0.0 a year), a deepest drawdown of -18.9%, and a worst single session of -8.0%. That is better than the median screened name (0.67 gap-downs a year, -44.9% typical worst drawdown).

Realised volatility runs about 20% annualised. That is low: safer to own, but the premium will be thin.

Ownership context: an activist 13D filing on the register (13D 91.7% '23). A 13D means someone has taken a stake with intent to influence the company. Read the recent news before selling puts here — that is the kind of situation that moves a stock on an announcement.

There is no uptrend in the price right now, so assignment would leave you holding something that is not going up.

Score breakdown

Wheel score660–100 suitability for options selling
Quality65ROIC, margins, leverage, accruals
Valuation76cheaper on fwd P/E, EV/EBITDA, FCF yield
Margin stability—steadier earnings score higher
Options listedMonthlyweekly avoids the liquidity haircut
Accounting flags0−8 points each

Realised tail risk

Computed from our own daily price history, 2023-10-04 to 2026-10-01 (749 sessions). The Wheel score is built from fundamentals, so these price-derived numbers are an independent check on it, not a restatement of it.

Days falling 10%+ in one session00.0 a year
Deepest drawdown-18.9%peak to trough
Worst single session-8.0%
Realised volatility20%annualised

Fundamentals

Revenue (ttm)14,989M USD
Revenue CAGR (3y)8.1%
Net margin8.5%
Return on equity11.0%
Share price$45.88
Days to earnings30
Sector / industryFinancial Services · Insurance - Property & Casualty

Open the CNA options chain on Yahoo Finance to check live strikes and premium — this page deliberately carries no quotes, because a quote baked into a static page is stale before you read it.

Run the numbers on CNA

Pre-filled with the snapshot price of $45.88 and 30-day realised volatility; add the strike and premium from the live option chain.

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Important: research and educational information only, not financial advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell any security or options contract. Figures come from public filings and third-party data and may be wrong or out of date. Options selling carries a real risk of substantial loss. See the full disclaimer.