Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,160,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 156,807 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of The Hartford Insurance Group worth $4,714,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HIG. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 28,218.5% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 757,804 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,763,000 after buying an additional 755,128 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group during the first quarter worth approximately $87,516,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 47.0% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 2,141,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $264,972,000 after purchasing an additional 684,390 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,943,498 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $239,905,000 after purchasing an additional 417,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 38.4% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,493,077 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,427,000 after buying an additional 414,216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hartford Insurance Group

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HIG shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up previously from $135.00) on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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 report on Wednesday, October 1st. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

The Hartford Insurance Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE HIG opened at $132.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.69. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.93 and a twelve month high of $135.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.19.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The insurance provider reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. The Hartford Insurance Group had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 12.75%.The Hartford Insurance Group’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. 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. 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.