Vest Financial LLC Buys 18,429 Shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 8.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,429 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.08% of The Hartford Financial Services Group worth $27,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,809,358 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $584,177,000 after acquiring an additional 69,007 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 7.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,191,914 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $328,320,000 after purchasing an additional 233,742 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 4.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,497,960 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $150,605,000 after purchasing an additional 70,018 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 2.4% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,367,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $137,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,806 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 3.4% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,229,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $123,577,000 after purchasing an additional 40,400 shares during the period. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HIG traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $122.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,299,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,601,375. The company has a market capitalization of $36.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.93. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.92 and a 1 year high of $123.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $115.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.34.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 21.20% and a net margin of 11.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to buyback $3.30 billion in 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 typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HIG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Argus raised The Hartford Financial Services Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup cut The Hartford Financial Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $134.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Hartford Financial Services Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.59.

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.