BDF Gestion Reduces Stock Holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Key Points

• BDF Gestion reduced its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group by 9.8%, selling 3,444 shares and retaining a total of 31,599 shares worth approximately $4 million.
• During the same quarter, several institutional investors, including Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt and Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc., made significant adjustments to their positions, with Redhawk increasing its stake by 112.5%.
• The Hartford Insurance Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, yielding 1.6%, and is expected to report earnings of 11.11 EPS for the current year.

BDF Gestion cut its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,599 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 3,444 shares during the period. BDF Gestion's holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group were worth $4,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 11.3% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,936,615 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $487,077,000 after buying an additional 398,950 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,509,098 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $434,181,000 after buying an additional 60,116 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 47.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 2,141,537 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $264,972,000 after buying an additional 684,390 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 27.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,943,498 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $239,905,000 after purchasing an additional 417,951 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 31.9% during the first quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,600,215 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $197,995,000 after purchasing an additional 387,141 shares during the period. 93.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hartford Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Donald Christian Hunt sold 2,124 shares of The Hartford Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.87, for a total value of $284,339.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 35,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $4,364,490.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 77,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,580,389. The trade was a 31.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HIG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.00.

The Hartford Insurance Group Stock Performance

HIG traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $130.90. The company had a trading volume of 3,393,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,228. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.93 and a 1 year high of $135.17. The company has a market cap of $36.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.02 billion. The Hartford Insurance Group had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 19.60%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. The Hartford Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.86%.

The Hartford Insurance 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.