UPDATE: Bank of America Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on Hartford Financial Services Group Following Analyst Meeting

In a report published Friday, Bank of America analyst Jay A. Cohen reiterated a Buy rating on Hartford Financial Services Group

, and raised the price target from $28.00 to $32.00. In the report, Cohen noted, “Hartford hosted an analyst meeting to discuss its run-off business. The added disclosure, along with a newly announced hedging program for the Japanese variable annuity run-off business, suggests a material reduction of risk in this business. In addition, the company will be entering a new phase of capital management with a greater focus on return of capital to common shareholders, a distinct positive, in our view, given the stock's valuation. We are raising our price objective to $32 from $28 due to a number of changes in our sum-of-the parts analysis.” Hartford Financial Services Group closed on Thursday at $27.38.