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The Hartford (HIG) Q2 Earnings: Disappointment in Store?

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The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (HIG - Free Report) is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Jul 28. In the last quarter, this company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 7.77%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors Influencing this Past Quarter

The quarter is expected to witness growth on the back of steady performance by national accounts, commercial lines and group benefits.

The Hartford is likely to benefit from the discontinuation of unproductive businesses, de-authorizing agents from the AARP program and a new compensation structure focused more on key partner agents.

Continued buy backs should lower outstanding share count and in turn, boost the bottom line.

However, intense competition – mainly due to low cost challenges – might limit top-line growth.

Underwriting results are expected to be hurt by the occurrences of several catastrophe events in the second quarter.

A still low interest rate environment is likely to limit the upside in net investment income.

Personal Lines business performance is expected to remain soft.

With respect to surprise trend, the company beat estimates in two of last four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 1.46%.

The Hartford’s share price has been fluctuating over the last few days. We wait to see how the stock performs after second-quarter result announcement.

HARTFORD FIN SV Price and EPS Surprise

HARTFORD FIN SV Price and EPS Surprise | HARTFORD FIN SV Quote

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that The Hartford will beat on earnings in the quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. But this is not the case here as elaborated below.

Zacks ESP: The Hartford has an Earnings ESP of -3.90%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate is pegged at 74 cents and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands higher at 77 cents.

Zacks Rank: The Hartford has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

The Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) should never be considered going into an earnings announcement.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some other companies you may want to consider as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +2.94% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is slated to report second-quarter earnings on Aug 4.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.47% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is set to report second-quarter earnings on Aug 10.

The All State Corporation (ALL - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +3.71% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is likely to report second-quarter earnings on Aug 3.

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