Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 31.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 173,673 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 80,536 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of The Hartford Financial Services Group worth $19,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $340,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 33.3% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 51,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 41,624 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,892,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 20,131 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,368,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HIG. Barclays raised The Hartford Financial Services Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hartford Financial Services Group

In related news, EVP Robert W. Paiano sold 13,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.20, for a total transaction of $1,539,773.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,678 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,661.60. The trade was a 29.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Swift sold 98,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.39, for a total transaction of $11,805,563.79. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,412,161.98. This trade represents a 31.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE HIG opened at $122.21 on Monday. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a one year low of $94.47 and a one year high of $124.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $34.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.27.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts forecast that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is 20.10%.

About The Hartford Financial Services 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.