The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $133.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.93.

The Hartford Insurance Group Trading Up 0.4%

The Hartford Insurance Group stock opened at $133.51 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Hartford Insurance Group has a 12 month low of $104.93 and a 12 month high of $135.17. The stock has a market cap of $37.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.69.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.02 billion. The Hartford Insurance Group had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 19.60%. The Hartford Insurance Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hartford Insurance Group will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at The Hartford Insurance Group

In other news, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 35,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total transaction of $4,364,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 77,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,580,389. This represents a 31.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald Christian Hunt sold 2,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.87, for a total transaction of $284,339.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HIG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group during the second quarter valued at about $506,329,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 51.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,268,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $414,632,000 after buying an additional 1,111,659 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 28,218.5% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 757,804 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,763,000 after buying an additional 755,128 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at about $87,516,000. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 47.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 2,141,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $264,972,000 after purchasing an additional 684,390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.42% of the company’s stock.

About The Hartford Insurance Group

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers insurance coverages, including workers' compensation, property, automobile, general and professional liability, package business, umbrella, fidelity and surety, marine, livestock, accident, health, and reinsurance through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers.