The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) Board of Directors Authorizes Share Buyback Plan

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 25th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $3.30 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 10.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HIG has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $113.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup downgraded The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $116.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $117.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.50.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Price Performance

The Hartford Financial Services Group stock opened at $109.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Hartford Financial Services Group has a one year low of $68.82 and a one year high of $109.68. The company has a market cap of $32.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $101.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.49.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.26. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Hartford Financial Services Group will post 9.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Hartford Financial Services Group news, EVP Michael R. Fisher sold 4,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.47, for a total transaction of $414,809.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,582.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other The Hartford Financial Services Group news, EVP Michael R. Fisher sold 4,088 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.47, for a total transaction of $414,809.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,582.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 72,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.71, for a total value of $7,186,697.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,896,840.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,499 shares of company stock worth $9,449,309 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Company 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.