First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,461,607 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 189,916 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 1.26% of The Hartford Insurance Group worth $468,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new stake in The Hartford Insurance Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in The Hartford Insurance Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HIG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $154.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down from $148.00) on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.75.

Insider Transactions at The Hartford Insurance Group

In other The Hartford Insurance Group news, President Adin M. Tooker sold 8,895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.13, for a total transaction of $1,201,981.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 38,208 shares in the company, valued at $5,163,047.04. The trade was a 18.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

The Hartford Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HIG opened at $141.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $38.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $133.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.42. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.33 and a 1-year high of $144.50.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.39 by ($0.30). The Hartford Insurance Group had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The company had revenue of $7.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 12.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The Hartford Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 16.87%.

The Hartford Insurance Group Profile

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.