Hartford Financial Services "outperform," target price raised

12/13/06 - Credit Suisse

NEW YORK, December 13 (newratings.com) - Analyst T Gallagher of Credit Suisse maintains his "outperform" rating on Hartford Financial Services Inc (HIG), while raising his estimates for the company. The target price has been raised from $103 to $105.

In a research note published yesterday, the analyst mentions that the company’s 2007 guidance for ongoing P&C operations is in-line with the estimates from an underwriting standpoint. The 2007 underwriting loss estimate has been reduced from $220 million to $175 million, the analyst says. The EPS estimate for 2007 has been raised from $9.40 to $9.50 to reflect the expected improvement in earnings growth in the run-off P&C business.