J.P. Morgan Reiterates Overweight Rating on Hartford Financial (HIG)

J.P. Morgan is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Overweight rating on Hartford Financial Services HIG; it has a $31.00 price target on the stock, up from 429.00. The JPM analysts said that their outlook for operating fundamentals is cautious, but they believe that trends are stabilizing and should improve through 2011. The analysts additionally noted that sentiment remains overly negative and the risk-reward is attractive for HIG. As for valuation, the analysts remarked, “Our price target is derived using blended multiples of 0.7x our 12/31/11 BV ex. AOCI forecast (50% weight), 0.7x 12/31/11 total BV forecast (25% weight), and 7.5x our 2012 EPS estimate (25% weight).”