Hartford Financial Q3 Earnings Beat on Personal Lines Growth

Core Insights - Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (HIG) reported third-quarter 2024 adjusted operating earnings of $2.53 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.6% and reflecting a year-over-year increase of 10.5% [1] - Operating revenues reached $4.7 billion, marking a 10.9% year-over-year improvement and beating the consensus mark by 1.1% [1] Q3 Operations - Earned premiums rose 8% year over year to $5.7 billion but fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%, driven by increases in P&C and Group Benefits earned premiums [2] - Pre-tax net investment income grew 10% year over year to $659 million, surpassing the consensus mark by 5.9% [2] - Total benefits, losses, and expenses increased 8.3% year over year to $5.8 billion, attributed to higher claims and operating expenses [2] Segmental Update P&C - Commercial Lines revenues were $3.7 billion, up 10.6% year over year, beating the consensus estimate by 2.2%, while core earnings declined 1.5% due to higher catastrophe losses [4] - Personal Lines revenues improved 13.7% year over year to $971 million, exceeding the consensus estimate by 3.3%, with core earnings of $33 million [5] - Group Benefits revenues grew 3.2% year over year to $1.8 billion but missed the consensus estimate by 0.9%, with core earnings declining 9.4% [7] Hartford Funds - Revenues reached $275 million, a 10.9% year-over-year increase, beating the consensus estimate by 5.5%, with core earnings improving 4.4% to $47 million [8] Corporate - Corporate revenues surged 223.1% year over year to $42 million, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate, although the segment incurred a core loss of $26 million [9] Financial Update (as of Sept. 30, 2024) - Cash increased to $223 million from $126 million at the end of 2023, while total investments rose to $59.4 billion from $55.9 billion [10] - Total assets grew to $81.2 billion from $76.8 billion, and total stockholders' equity improved to $17 billion from $15.3 billion [10] - Book value per share increased to $56.39 from $50.23, with core earnings' return on equity improving 250 bps year over year to 17.4% [10] Capital Deployment Update - Hartford Financial returned $538 million to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends, with an increase in quarterly common dividend by 11% [11]