UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Sells 50,215 Shares of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Key Points

• UBS AM reduced its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group by 1.3%, now holding approximately 3.78 million shares valued at $467.73 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in The Hartford, with Optimize Financial Inc raising its stake by 12.9% and Woodline Partners LP by an astonishing 28,218.5% in the first quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.6%, with the dividend payout ratio currently at 18.86%.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC cut its stake in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,780,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 50,215 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 1.33% of The Hartford Insurance Group worth $467,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HIG. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 608.4% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 16,778 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,836,000 after acquiring an additional 20,078 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 54,735 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,988,000 after acquiring an additional 2,372 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,369 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 2,077 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 239,531 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 129,664 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $14,185,000 after acquiring an additional 7,006 shares during the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HIG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on The Hartford Insurance Group from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on The Hartford Insurance Group in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hartford Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Donald Christian Hunt sold 2,124 shares of The Hartford Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.87, for a total transaction of $284,339.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 35,340 shares of The Hartford Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $4,364,490.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 77,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,580,389. This represents a 31.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Hartford Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Hartford Insurance Group stock traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $132.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,127,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,341,102. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $104.93 and a one year high of $135.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $37.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.72.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.58. The Hartford Insurance Group had a return on equity of 19.60% and a net margin of 11.83%.The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. The Hartford Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.86%.

About The Hartford Insurance Group

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.