Legal & General Group Plc Sells 19,034 Shares of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,534,507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 19,034 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.91% of The Hartford Insurance Group worth $349,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $10,178,152,000 after acquiring an additional 73,835,976 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,031,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,146,749,000 after buying an additional 55,983 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,331,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $711,141,000 after buying an additional 496,821 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,389,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $606,956,000 after buying an additional 81,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,376,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $450,449,000 after buying an additional 108,765 shares in the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HIG. UBS Group reduced their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $149.00 target price (down from $163.00) on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $159.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hartford Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Lori A. Rodden sold 40,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.05, for a total value of $5,617,668.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,365.60. This represents a 61.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

The Hartford Insurance Group Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of HIG stock opened at $135.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.50. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.61 and a fifty-two week high of $144.50.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $7.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.41 billion. The Hartford Insurance Group had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The Hartford Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.87%.

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.