Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 514,123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,541 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group were worth $65,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 5.2% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 74,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,209,000 after purchasing an additional 3,680 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.7% during the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 19,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,872,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $257,000. Finally, Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors own 93.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HIG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $133.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hartford Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Hartford Insurance Group news, EVP Donald Christian Hunt sold 2,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.87, for a total value of $284,339.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lori A. Rodden sold 7,841 shares of The Hartford Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.41, for a total transaction of $959,816.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,344. This represents a 29.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Hartford Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of HIG stock opened at $131.20 on Wednesday. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.93 and a 12-month high of $135.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.79.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The insurance provider reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.76. The Hartford Insurance Group had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 12.75%.The company had revenue of $7.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from The Hartford Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The Hartford Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.61%.

The Hartford Insurance 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.