United Services Automobile Association Acquires New Stake in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. $HIG

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in The Hartford Insurance Group, purchasing 6,671 shares valued at approximately $815,000.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on the stock, with Piper Sandler raising its target price to $150 while Wall Street Zen downgraded its rating from "buy" to "hold".
• The Hartford Insurance Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $2.08 and a yield of 1.6%.

United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,671 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 11.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,936,615 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $487,077,000 after buying an additional 398,950 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,830,462 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $419,053,000 after buying an additional 234,320 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of 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. boosted its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group by 27.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,943,498 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $239,905,000 after buying an additional 417,951 shares during the period. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HIG shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $140.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on The Hartford Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $152.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hartford Insurance Group

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

The Hartford Insurance Group Price Performance

HIG traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $132.52. 1,127,441 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,622,632. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $127.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.36. The company has a market cap of $37.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.72. 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 Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.93 and a twelve month high of $135.17.

The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast 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 dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The Hartford Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is 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.