The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) Cut to Market Perform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note released on Sunday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $149.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $163.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $152.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.25.

The Hartford Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HIG opened at $135.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $37.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $137.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.03. The Hartford Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $107.49 and a fifty-two week high of $144.50.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.06 EPS 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 company had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Hartford Insurance Group will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. The Hartford Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.99%.

Insider Transactions at The Hartford Insurance Group

In other The Hartford Insurance Group news, EVP Lori A. Rodden sold 40,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.05, for a total transaction of $5,617,668.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,365.60. The trade was a 61.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 35,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 77,574 shares in the company, valued at $10,595,056.92. This trade represents a 31.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 384,621 shares of company stock valued at $53,010,925. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HIG. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 286,241.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 73,861,771 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,178,152,000 after purchasing an additional 73,835,976 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,031,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,146,749,000 after acquiring an additional 55,983 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,948,948 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,091,440,000 after purchasing an additional 34,274 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,331,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $711,141,000 after purchasing an additional 496,821 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $611,724,000. 93.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.