The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) Position Lifted by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 64,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group were worth $5,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,704 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $674,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 88.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,238 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 5,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 235.4% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at The Hartford Financial Services Group

In other news, CEO Christopher Swift sold 2,290 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $190,413.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,150,467. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 38,915 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.42, for a total value of $3,713,269.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,600,105.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Swift sold 2,290 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $190,413.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,150,467. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 259,342 shares of company stock valued at $23,256,523. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HIG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $97.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $77.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Hartford Financial Services Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.06.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Price Performance

Shares of HIG opened at $103.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $93.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.01 and a twelve month high of $103.27.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The insurance provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $6.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 1st. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is presently 23.53%.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Company Profile

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers insurance coverages, including workers' compensation, property, automobile, general and professional liability, package business, umbrella, fidelity and surety, marine, livestock, accident, health, and reinsurance through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers.