Hartford Financial Q4 Earnings Beat on P&C Earned Premiums Growth

Core Viewpoint - The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted operating earnings of $2.94 per share, exceeding estimates by 10.1$4.8 billion, marking an 11.1% year-over-year increase and slightly surpassing consensus estimates [2]. - Earned premiums rose 6.9% year over year to $5.8 billion, but fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.7$714 million, exceeding consensus estimates by 5.5% [5]. - Total benefits, losses, and expenses increased 6.5% year over year to 5.8 billion, driven by higher claims and operating expenses [6]. Segment Performance - **P&C Commercial Lines**: Revenues were 3.8 billion, up 10.3% year over year, but core earnings declined 8% due to higher catastrophe losses [9]. - Personal Lines: Revenues improved 13.4% year over year to $993 million, with core earnings of$155 million, supported by double-digit premium growth and lower catastrophe losses [11]. - Group Benefits: Revenues slightly decreased by 0.1% year over year to $1.77 billion, with core earnings down 20.1$272 million, with core earnings rising 30.8% to $51 million [14]. - **Corporate Segment**: Revenues fell 17.8$37 million, with a core loss of $39 million [15]. Balance Sheet and Capital Deployment - As of December 31, 2024, cash increased to$183 million from $126 million at the end of 2023, while total investments rose to$59.2 billion from $55.9 billion [16]. - Total stockholders' equity improved to$16.4 billion from $15.3 billion at the end of 2023 [17]. - Book value per share increased to$55.09 from $50.23, with a core earnings return on equity of 16.7$537 million to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends, with a remaining buyback capacity of $3.15 million [19]. Full-Year Update - For the full year 2024, adjusted operating earnings were$10.30 per share, a 16% increase year over year, with revenues of $26.5 billion growing 8.2% [20].