The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG Shares Bought by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,992,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 150,625 shares during the period. The Hartford Insurance Group makes up about 1.3% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group were worth $274,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIG. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in The Hartford Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 56,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,122,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 167,868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,297,000 after purchasing an additional 6,285 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 9.8% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 193,020 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,488,000 after buying an additional 39,220 shares during the period. 93.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HIG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded The Hartford Insurance Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $149.00 price target (down from $163.00) on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a report on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Hartford Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.31.

The Hartford Insurance Group Price Performance

NYSE HIG opened at $134.30 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $136.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.42. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.61 and a 52 week high of $144.50. The stock has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.39 by ($0.30). The Hartford Insurance Group had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $14.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 13.17 EPS for the current year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. The Hartford Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lori A. Rodden sold 40,693 shares of The Hartford Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.05, for a total transaction of $5,617,668.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,505,365.60. The trade was a 61.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.