UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Upgrades Hartford Financial Services; Valuation Understated

Stifel Nicolaus upgrades Hartford Financial Services

from Hold to Buy and establishes a price target of $24 per share. Stifel Nicolaus comments, "Valuation barely covers core "go forward" value: We see very limited downside from current levels, as peer P/Es imply that HIG's “go-forward” businesses (Property and Casualty, Group Benefits, Mutual Funds, and Corporate operations) are themselves worth almost $20 a share. We conservatively estimate the run-off operations' discounted future earnings at another $4/share, producing our 12-month $24 target price." HIG closed at $19.09 on Monday.