Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 19,383 Shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG – Get Rating) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 460,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 19,383 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of The Hartford Financial Services Group worth $31,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HIG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,002,178 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $281,153,000 after acquiring an additional 893,852 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 131.0% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,332,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,626,000 after acquiring an additional 755,746 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 89.0% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,458,772 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $90,401,000 after acquiring an additional 687,072 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 1,619.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 699,676 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,306,000 after acquiring an additional 658,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,802,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $124,421,000 after acquiring an additional 654,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HIG. Raymond James raised their price objective on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $80.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.58.

In other news, EVP Robert W. Paiano sold 8,510 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $638,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,785,650. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Scott R. Lewis sold 5,000 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,121 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,075. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,597 shares of company stock worth $8,980,210 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock opened at $69.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.97. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a one year low of $59.86 and a one year high of $78.17.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The insurance provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.60 billion. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 11.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 1st were paid a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 28th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.18%.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Company Profile (Get Rating)

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers workers' compensation, property, automobile, liability, umbrella, bond, marine, livestock, and reinsurance; 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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