Ahead of the Bell: Hartford Financial Services

Analyst says Hartford Financial recovering strongly from market, economic downturns

• On 8:31 am EST, Wednesday November 4, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is rebounding from the credit crisis and market downturn earlier this year with a strong capital base and improving businesses, an analyst wrote in a research note Wednesday.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. analyst Jeffrey Schuman said Hartford Financial's third-quarter results released Tuesday showed better-than-expected earnings from both its property and casualty and life insurance businesses.

The Hartford, Conn., company lost $220 million, or 79 cents per share, during the quarter ended Sept. 30. However, adjusted earnings, which exclude certain investment gains and losses, totaled $660 million, or $1.56 per share.

Schuman estimates Hartford Financial's adjusted operating profit was $1 per share, 19 cents per share better than his forecast.

In the property and casualty insurance division, Schuman said operating earnings were better-than-expected because of improved underwriting. The division's combined ratio, which measures the amount paid out in claims and expenses compared with money taken in from writing new policies, was also stronger than anticipated.

Life insurance operations were boosted by international operations and individual and group life benefits, Schuman wrote in the research note.

The company also boosted its full-year guidance when reporting earnings Tuesday. It now expects core earnings to range between 85 cents per share and $1.05 per share, compared with a previous estimate ranging from break-even to 20 cents per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast earnings of 52 cents per share for the year.

Hartford Financial's shares rose $1.78, or 6.9 percent, to $27.60 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Buzz up!