Barclays PLC Lowers Stake in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Barclays PLC cut its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 17.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,222,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 253,976 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.44% of The Hartford Insurance Group worth $163,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,160,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,714,571,000 after buying an additional 156,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,467,018 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $943,448,000 after acquiring an additional 57,539 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,834,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $613,349,000 after acquiring an additional 136,483 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,307,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $570,328,000 after acquiring an additional 215,941 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $506,329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lori A. Rodden sold 5,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.83, for a total transaction of $805,736.23. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,609,672. This represents a 23.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 35,339 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.58, for a total transaction of $4,826,600.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 77,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,595,056.92. This represents a 31.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 343,928 shares of company stock worth $47,393,256. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

The Hartford Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of HIG stock opened at $139.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.80. The company has a market cap of $38.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.60. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.49 and a 12-month high of $144.50.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.84. The Hartford Insurance Group had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 13.52%.The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. The Hartford Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HIG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on The Hartford Insurance Group from $152.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore upped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.13.

About The Hartford Insurance Group

The Hartford Financial Services Group, commonly known as The Hartford, is a U.S.-based insurance and investment company that provides a broad range of commercial and personal insurance products and employee benefits. Its core businesses include property and casualty insurance for businesses and individuals, group benefits such as group life, disability and dental plans, and retirement and investment solutions offered through affiliated asset-management operations. The company also delivers risk management, claims-handling and loss-prevention services designed to support policyholders across a variety of industries.

Founded in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1810, The Hartford is one of the oldest insurance organizations in the United States and has a long history of underwriting and product development across multiple insurance lines.