Horizon Advisory Services Inc. Makes New $277,000 Investment in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Horizon Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HIG. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 265.5% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,213,074 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $132,710,000 after purchasing an additional 881,224 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 437.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 871,318 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $95,322,000 after purchasing an additional 709,324 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,938,421 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $430,272,000 after purchasing an additional 581,103 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 935,298 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $110,000,000 after purchasing an additional 277,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 809,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $88,550,000 after purchasing an additional 246,528 shares during the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $100.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.94.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Performance

NYSE HIG opened at $113.79 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $111.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.27. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.32 and a 12-month high of $124.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.97.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.26. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 19.55% and a net margin of 11.72%. Research analysts expect that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.10%.

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.