Hartford Boosted by TARP

 
TARP to Boost HIG’s Capital Position

Hartford Financial Services (HIG - Analyst Report) announced that it has accepted all of the $3.4 billion approved under the Federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In return, the company will issue preference shares carrying a 5% dividend, with an option to purchase as much as $510 million in company stock at $9.79 a share.

Earlier, HIG announced a plan to sell up to $750 million in common stock to raise further capital. HIG has issued 1.2 million shares so far, but now plans to limit sales under the same plan.

HIG is one of the largest multi-line insurance and investment companies in the U.S. As of March 31, 2009, Hartford had total assets under management of $330.2 billion, total assets of $276.2 billion, total investments of $116.3 billion and total shareholders equity of $7.9 billion.

We believe that the TARP funds will strengthen HIG's capital position and provide much-needed financial flexibility. However, we remain concerned about HIG's exposure to variable annuities and capital levels and also suspect that the company will continue to incur increasing losses in its investment portfolio.

Therefore, we are maintaining our Hold recommendation on the shares.