Ameriprise Financial Inc. Purchases 66,107 Shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,222,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,107 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 1.04% of The Hartford Financial Services Group worth $223,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 37.1% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 9,285 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 6,868.9% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 21,431 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 1,391.7% during the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 212,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,780,000 after purchasing an additional 197,859 shares in the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 3.8% during the first quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 65,904 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,593,000 after acquiring an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Finally, SRB Corp acquired a new stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group during the first quarter worth $327,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HIG shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $86.00 to $94.00 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $87.00 to $83.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Monday, July 31st. 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, The Hartford Financial Services Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.46.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Down 0.5 %

The Hartford Financial Services Group stock opened at $72.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.56 and its 200-day moving average is $71.19. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.17 and a fifty-two week high of $79.44. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 17.54%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.33%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephanie C. Bush sold 3,500 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $253,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,090,561.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,508 shares of company stock valued at $326,053. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.