The Dividend Daily

Stifel Nicolaus announced on Thursday that they have increased their price target for financial services company, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc(HIG).

The firm reported that they have maintained a “Buy” rating for HIG, and have increased its price target from $25 to $28. This price target suggests a 20% increase from the stock’s current price of $22.32.

An analyst from the firm commented, “shares of HIG currently trade at only 46% of current book value, well below its P&C peers’ 109% average and life insurers’ 71% average, which we think reflects investors’ caution over HIG’s restructuring. We think the shares will outperform as core P&C results improve, and as Hartford finalizes and discloses its planned use of the $2.2 billion of statutory capital freed up from its recent unit sales. Our $28 target price represents 53% of 2013E BVPS or about 8.2x our 2014E EPS.”

Hartford shares were mostly flat during Thursday morning trading. The stock is up 36% YTD.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Hartford Financial Services (HIG) have a 1.79% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $22.30. The stock has technical support in the $19-$20 price area. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $24-$25 price levels.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc(HIG) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.