The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) Shares Acquired by Tompkins Financial Corp

Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 69.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,740 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group were worth $61,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 31.0% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,242,674 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $230,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478,795 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 135.5% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 2,506,376 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $123,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442,126 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new position in The Hartford Financial Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,862,000. State of Tennessee Treasury Department lifted its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 882.7% in the third quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 723,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,668,000 after acquiring an additional 649,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 13.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,768,754 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $175,777,000 after acquiring an additional 559,260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.48% of the company’s stock.

In other news, President Douglas G. Elliot sold 128,535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $6,298,215.00. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

A number of research firms recently commented on HIG. Raymond James began coverage on The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Thursday, February 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, January 4th. Barclays began coverage on The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Tuesday, November 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $53.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.40.

Shares of NYSE HIG opened at $51.03 on Tuesday. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.04 and a 12-month high of $57.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.08.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.43. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 8.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 5.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 26th. This is an increase from The Hartford Financial Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 23.01%.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Company Profile

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers workers' compensation, property, automobile, liability, umbrella, bond, marine, livestock, and reinsurance products; and customized insurance products and risk management services, including professional liability, bond, surety, and specialty casualty coverages through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers.

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