The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG – Get Rating) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $80.00. The stock had previously closed at $70.83, but opened at $69.00. The Hartford Financial Services Group shares last traded at $68.80, with a volume of 381,901 shares traded.
Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on HIG. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on The Hartford Financial Services Group in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.50.
Insider Activity
In other news, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 38,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.85, for a total value of $3,029,532.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,453,409.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 38,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.85, for a total transaction of $3,029,532.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,453,409.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adin M. Tooker sold 3,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $303,447.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,726.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,587 shares of company stock valued at $7,524,178 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hartford Financial Services Group
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,649,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $349,947,000 after purchasing an additional 147,509 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 662,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,019,000 after purchasing an additional 108,387 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 119,117 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,378,000 after purchasing an additional 8,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its position in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 462,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,630,000 after purchasing an additional 156,532 shares in the last quarter. 89.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
The Hartford Financial Services Group Trading Down 3.1 %
The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.85.
The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The insurance provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.74 billion. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 8.12%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.
The Hartford Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 6th were issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.19%.
About The Hartford Financial Services Group
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc is an insurance and financial services company. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Lines, Personal Lines, Property & Casualty Other Operations, Group Benefits, Hartford Funds, and Corporate. The Commercial Lines segment provides workers’ compensation, property, automobile, liability and umbrella coverage under several different products.