Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 9,332 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,237,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 286,241.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 73,835,976 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in the second quarter worth $4,067,052,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,031,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,146,749,000 after purchasing an additional 55,983 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 10.3% during the third 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 period. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HIG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $146.00 price target (down from $148.00) on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $165.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased 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 report on Friday, June 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hartford Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.67.

The Hartford Insurance Group Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of HIG stock opened at $138.51 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.46. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.33 and a fifty-two week high of $146.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.26. The Hartford Insurance Group had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $7.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.41 earnings per share. The Hartford Insurance Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 12.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. The Hartford Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 15.51%.

The Hartford Insurance Group Company 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.