Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut The Hartford Insurance Group’s price target from $145 to $135 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 6.55% upside from the stock’s $126.70 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: HIG has an overall “Hold” consensus rating and an average price target of $148.20, based on six Buy and eleven Hold ratings.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.42 in adjusted EPS versus the $3.16 consensus and $7.26 billion in revenue; institutional investors own 93.42% of its shares.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target indicates a potential upside of 6.55% from the company's current price.

HIG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays dropped their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 12th. Mizuho cut The Hartford Insurance Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $163.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $165.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $148.20.

The Hartford Insurance Group Price Performance

NYSE HIG traded up $0.49 on Tuesday, reaching $126.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 374,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,627,390. The firm has a market cap of $34.32 billion, a PE ratio of 8.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $136.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.20. The Hartford Insurance Group has a 52 week low of $120.33 and a 52 week high of $146.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.16 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $7.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. The Hartford Insurance Group had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Hartford Insurance Group will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HIG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $4,067,052,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,699,459 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $635,490,000 after purchasing an additional 72,448 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,831,622 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $518,150,000 after purchasing an additional 79,827 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,557,609 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $490,239,000 after purchasing an additional 180,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,461,607 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $468,113,000 after buying an additional 189,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.42% of the company's stock.

The Hartford Insurance Group Company Profile

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc, commonly known as The Hartford, is an insurance and financial services company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1810, the company provides insurance products and related services to businesses, individuals and institutional customers primarily in the United States.

The Hartford's main business includes commercial property and casualty insurance, workers' compensation, liability coverage, commercial auto insurance and other products for businesses of various sizes.

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