Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 5,284 Shares of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,458 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,284 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group were worth $4,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,031,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,146,749,000 after purchasing an additional 55,983 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,331,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $711,141,000 after purchasing an additional 496,821 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,389,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $606,956,000 after buying an additional 81,712 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group by 3.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,376,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $450,449,000 after buying an additional 108,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group by 7.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,281,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $416,365,000 after buying an additional 228,780 shares during the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Hartford Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Hartford Insurance Group stock opened at $136.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $37.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.05. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. The Hartford Insurance Group had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 13.52%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The Hartford Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HIG shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup increased their price target on The Hartford Insurance Group from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on The Hartford Insurance Group from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $149.00 target price (down from $163.00) on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Hartford Insurance Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hartford Insurance Group

In other The Hartford Insurance Group news, CEO Christopher Swift sold 201,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.41, for a total transaction of $27,546,362.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 194,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,574,986.97. The trade was a 50.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lori A. Rodden sold 40,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,505,365.60. The trade was a 61.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 349,282 shares of company stock worth $48,184,324 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.