Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Increases Stock Position in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,419 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HIG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 437.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 871,318 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,322,000 after buying an additional 709,324 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 31,680.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 694,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $816,310,000 after purchasing an additional 691,900 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,938,421 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $430,272,000 after buying an additional 581,103 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 42.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 935,298 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $110,000,000 after acquiring an additional 277,295 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 7,564.9% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 248,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,243,000 after purchasing an additional 245,404 shares in the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on HIG shares. Barclays upgraded shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $100.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $134.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $134.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $135.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.28.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Stock Performance

The Hartford Financial Services Group stock opened at $111.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $114.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.57. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.87 and a fifty-two week high of $124.90.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from The Hartford Financial Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Adin M. Tooker sold 6,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.04, for a total transaction of $803,479.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,820 shares in the company, valued at $3,021,972.80. This represents a 21.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

The Hartford Financial Services Group 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.