Empirical Asset Management LLC Buys 7,607 Shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 187.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,607 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group were worth $1,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HIG. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,050 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in the 4th quarter worth about $177,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 524.7% in the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 83,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,672,000 after buying an additional 69,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on HIG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $120.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $122.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Ten 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.94.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Up 0.6 %

The Hartford Financial Services Group stock traded up $0.65 on Monday, hitting $118.01. 81,113 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,598,938. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $34.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.74. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.92 and a 1 year high of $119.06.

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

The Hartford Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 21.36%.

The Hartford Financial Services Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.30 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 10.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

The Hartford Financial Services Group 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.