The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 71.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,804 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 144,608 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group were worth $6,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HIG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,067,052,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,699,459 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $635,490,000 after buying an additional 72,448 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 2.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,831,622 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $518,150,000 after buying an additional 79,827 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,461,607 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $468,113,000 after buying an additional 189,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in The Hartford Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $346,877,000. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on The Hartford Insurance Group in a report on Monday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $137.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $158.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.56.

The Hartford Insurance Group Trading Up 0.4%

The Hartford Insurance Group stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $137.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,123,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,942,947. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $132.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.48. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.42 and a 1 year high of $146.07.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The insurance provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by $0.33. The Hartford Insurance Group had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $7.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 13.32 EPS for the current year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from The Hartford Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. The Hartford Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Beth Costello sold 31,597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.75, for a total value of $4,289,292.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 82,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,265,621. The trade was a 27.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About The Hartford Insurance Group

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., known as The Hartford, is a U.S.-based insurance company founded in 1810 and headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. It provides property and casualty insurance and employee benefits to businesses, organizations and individuals. Its commercial insurance offerings include coverage such as workers’ compensation, general liability, commercial auto and property insurance. The company also provides group benefits, including life, disability and leave-management products, along with personal auto and homeowners insurance, which it offers through arrangements including its relationship with AARP.