Bank of America Reiterates Neutral Rating for The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG)

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by research analysts at Bank of America in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $121.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $113.00. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 2.46% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $122.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $120.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.47.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock opened at $118.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The Hartford Financial Services Group has a 52-week low of $68.92 and a 52-week high of $119.06. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $113.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.93.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 21.20%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Hartford Financial Services Group will post 10.09 EPS for the current year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to repurchase $3.30 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 10.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of The Hartford Financial Services Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HIG. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,119,863 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $491,915,000 after buying an additional 1,272,290 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 72.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,335,594 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $137,633,000 after purchasing an additional 559,019 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in the 1st quarter worth $53,980,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 301.2% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 333,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,316,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 7.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,191,914 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $328,320,000 after purchasing an additional 233,742 shares in the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Company Profile

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.