American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 20.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,924 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.07% of The Hartford Financial Services Group worth $14,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 425.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,004,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,525 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 563.3% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,514 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 16,572 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,191 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 642,986 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,810,000 after buying an additional 8,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 372,951 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,991,000 after acquiring an additional 5,389 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephanie C. Bush sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $253,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,090,561.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 4,172 shares of company stock valued at $302,012 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HIG. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $71.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $86.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $87.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hartford Financial Services Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.46.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Performance

HIG opened at $72.43 on Friday. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.17 and a 1-year high of $79.44. The stock has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 17.54% and a net margin of 8.53%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.33%.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Profile

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc 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, and reinsurance through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers.