The Hartford Announces Excellent Third Quarter 2024 Financial Performance
Increased quarterly common dividend per share by 11%
Robust growth is the key takeaway from The Hartford’s latest quarterly report. The Connecticut-based insurer announced a quarterly dividend increase of 11% and net income of $751 million or $2.56 per diluted share, representing an 18% increased from the $645 million announced during the same quarter last year.
“The Hartford delivered an excellent quarter with a trailing 12-month core earnings ROE of 17.4 percent,” said The Hartford’s Chairman and CEO Christopher Swift. “Commercial Lines once again generated strong top-line growth at highly profitable margins, Personal Lines continues to make progress toward restoring target profitability in auto, Group Benefits margin remained strong, and all businesses benefited from a consistent contribution from the investment portfolio.”
Swift continued, “The Hartford’s performance through the first nine months of 2024 is a powerful example of sustained financial excellence even in the face of industry-wide elevated catastrophe losses. With strong capital generation, we are pleased to announce an 11 percent increase in our quarterly common dividend. Our franchise has never been better positioned to sustain industry-leading financial performance and create value for all our stakeholders.”
The following are some highlights from the report.
Financial Highlights
Net Income: $761 million, or $2.56 per diluted share, reflecting an 18% increase from $645 million in the same quarter in 2023.
Core Earnings: Up by 6% to $752 million, or $2.53 per diluted share, compared to $708 million in Q3 2023.
Return on Equity:
Net income ROE for the trailing 12 months stood at 20.0%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points.
Core earnings ROE improved to 17.4%, up from 14.9% in the same period last year.
Property & Casualty Growth: Written premiums rose 10%, with Commercial Lines up 9% and Personal Lines up 12%.
Dividend Increase: The quarterly dividend per share rose by 11%, now $0.52 per share, payable on Jan. 3, 2025, to shareholders of record as of Dec. 2, 2024.
Segment Performance
The Hartford’s Chief Financial Officer Beth Costello said, “Commercial Lines had an excellent quarter with an underlying combined ratio of 88.6. Pricing, excluding workers’ compensation, at 9.5 percent in the quarter remains above loss cost trends. Personal Lines generated a 7.0-point improvement in the auto underlying combined ratio. Group Benefits continued to outperform with a core earnings margin of 8.7 percent, driven by strong results in life and disability.”
Property & Casualty:
Combined ratio for Commercial Lines was 92.2, with an underlying combined ratio of 88.6.
P&C catastrophe (CAT) losses were $247 million, largely from Hurricane Helene, which accounted for $104 million of the losses.
Personal Lines demonstrated marked improvement with a 7-point gain in the auto underlying combined ratio, influenced by price increases and reduced claim frequency.
Group Benefits:
Core earnings margin remained strong at 8.7%.
Net income margin improved slightly to 8.8%, driven by favorable results in life and disability.
Hartford Funds:
Daily average assets under management increased 7% year-over-year, contributing to higher net income.
Return to Shareholders
The Hartford returned $538 million to shareholders this quarter, including $400 million in share repurchases and $138 million in dividends.
