AlphaCentric Advisors LLC Has $468,000 Holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

AlphaCentric Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG - Free Report) by 99.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,653 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 2,322 shares during the quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC's holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 3.1% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 28.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 519 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 4.3% during the first quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 2,931 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 473 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,543 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HIG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $117.00 to $111.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $120.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered The Hartford Financial Services Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $116.00 to $114.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Hartford Financial Services Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hartford Financial Services Group

In other The Hartford Financial Services Group news, EVP Michael R. Fisher sold 4,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.47, for a total transaction of $414,809.36. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE HIG traded up $0.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $113.02. 815,244 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,629,300. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.82 and a 12 month high of $113.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.03. 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 company has a market capitalization of $33.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.92.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 21.20% and a net margin of 11.44%. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The Hartford Financial Services Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.36%.

The Hartford Financial Services Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to repurchase $3.30 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 10.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.