third quarter 2026
Filed Oct 26, 2026The Hartford Reports Strong Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results Increased quarterly common dividend per share by 12%
Net income available to common stockholders increased 23% and Business Insurance written premiums increased 6%, but consolidated core earnings decreased 6%, Personal Insurance written premiums decreased 4%, and catastrophe losses increased materially.
Key metrics
shortened, hover for the filing’s print| Metric | Value | q/q | y/y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated total revenues, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $7.22B | – | – |
| Consolidated earned premiums, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $6.35B | – | – |
| Income from continuing operations, net of tax, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $1.26B | – | 24% |
| Income from continuing operations, net of tax per diluted share, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $4.60 | – | 29% |
| Net income, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $1.32B | – | – |
| Net income available to common stockholders, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $1.32B | – | 23% |
| Net income available to common stockholders per diluted share, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $4.82 | – | 28% |
| Core earnings, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $956M | – | (6%) |
| Core earnings per diluted share, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $3.50 | – | (3%) |
| Income from discontinued operations, after tax, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $61M | – | – |
| Book value per diluted share, as of Sept. 30, 2026GAAP | $68.31 | 3.0% | 7% |
| Book value per diluted share (excluding AOCI), as of Sept. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $82.47 | 12.0% | 16% |
| Net income available to common stockholders' return on equity, last 12-monthsGAAP | 25.0% | – | 4.7 |
| Core earnings return on equity, last 12-monthsnon-GAAP | 17.9% | – | 0.6 |
| Business Insurance net income, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $637M | – | (10%) |
| Business Insurance core earnings, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $731M | – | 1% |
| Business Insurance underwriting gain, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $327M | – | (18%) |
| Business Insurance underlying underwriting gain, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $372M | – | (1%) |
| Business Insurance combined ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | 91.3 | – | 2.5 |
| Business Insurance underlying combined ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | 90.1 | – | 0.7 |
| Business Insurance loss and loss adjustment expense ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | 61.1 | – | 3.8 |
| Business Insurance underlying loss and loss adjustment expense ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | 59.9 | – | 2.0 |
| Business Insurance expense ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026other | 30.0 | – | (1.1) |
| Personal Insurance net income, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $93M | – | (33%) |
| Personal Insurance core earnings, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $105M | – | (27%) |
| Personal Insurance underwriting gain, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $62M | – | (42%) |
| Personal Insurance underlying underwriting gain, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $118M | – | 24% |
| Personal Insurance combined ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | 93.2 | – | 4.5 |
| Personal Insurance underlying combined ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | 87.1 | – | (2.9) |
| Personal Insurance loss and loss adjustment expense ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | 67.2 | – | 4.3 |
| Personal Insurance underlying loss and loss adjustment expense ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | 61.1 | – | (3.1) |
| Personal Insurance expense ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026other | 26.0 | – | 0.2 |
| Employee Benefits net income, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $132M | – | (8%) |
| Employee Benefits core earnings, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $120M | – | (19%) |
| Employee Benefits loss ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026other | 74.9% | – | 4.8 |
| Employee Benefits expense ratio, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026other | 25.4% | – | (1.3) |
| Employee Benefits net income margin, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | 7.0% | – | (1.1) |
| Employee Benefits core earnings margin, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | 6.4% | – | (1.9) |
| Corporate net income available to common stockholders, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $49M | – | (29)% |
| Corporate core loss, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | −$16M | – | (129)% |
| Net investment income, before tax, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | $850M | – | 13% |
| Net investment income excluding limited partnerships and other alternative investments, before tax, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | $694M | – | 5% |
| LP income, before tax, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026other | $156M | – | – |
| Annualized investment yield, before tax, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | 5.1% | – | 0.3 |
| Annualized investment yield, before tax, excluding LPs, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026non-GAAP | 4.6% | – | 0.0 |
| Annualized LP yield, before tax, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026other | 10.2% | – | 3.5 |
| Annualized investment yield, after tax, three months ended Sep. 30, 2026GAAP | 4.1% | – | 0.2 |
| Total invested assets, as of Sept. 30, 2026GAAP | $64.7B | increased $1.2 billion from Dec. 31, 2025 | – |
Segments
| Segment | Revenue | q/q | y/y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business InsuranceGrowth across all businesses. Small Business and Global Specialty each delivered 7% written premium growth, while Middle & Large increased 3%, including 5% growth in Middle Market. | Written premiums $3,772 million | – | 6% |
| Personal InsuranceAn 8% decline in automobile reflecting continued pressure on new business growth in a competitive market environment was partially offset by 5% earned premium growth in homeowners, including 20% new business growth. | Written premiums $950 million | – | (4%) |
| Employee BenefitsGrowth included strong new business sales, an increase in exposure on existing accounts and persistency in excess of 90%. | Fully insured ongoing premiums $1,662 million | – | 4% |
Capital returns
- Returned $638 million to stockholders in the third quarter, including $475 million of shares repurchased and $163 million in common stockholder dividends paid.
- Increased the quarterly common dividend per share by 12%, to $0.67, payable Jan. 5, 2027, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 1, 2026.
What drove it
- P&C written premiums increased by 4%, driven by Business Insurance premium growth of 6%.
- P&C earned premium grew 4% and Employee Benefits fully insured ongoing premiums grew 4%.
- Net favorable PYD was $594 million, before tax, including a net gain of $497 million from commuting the asbestos and environmental adverse development cover.
- Net investment income increased to $850 million, before tax, from $755 million, primarily driven by increased income from limited partnerships and other alternative investments and a higher level of invested assets.
- Personal Insurance underlying combined ratio improved 2.9 points to 87.1 as earned pricing increases outpaced loss cost trends.
- Employee Benefits expense ratio improved 1.3 points, driven by lower staffing costs and earned premium growth, partially offset by higher technology costs.
Concerns
- P&C CAY CAT losses were $198 million, before tax, compared with $70 million in third quarter 2025.
- Business Insurance underlying combined ratio increased to 90.1 from 89.4, driven by a 2.0 point increase in the underlying loss and loss adjustment expense ratio.
- Personal Insurance written premiums decreased to $950 million from $987 million, with automobile earned premium declining 8%.
- Employee Benefits loss ratio increased to 74.9% from 70.1%, including increased claim incidence across short and long-term disability products and less favorable long-term disability claim recoveries.
- Core earnings decreased to $956 million from $1,022 million, and core earnings per diluted share decreased to $3.50 from $3.59.
- Net realized losses were $116 million, before tax, compared with net realized losses of $17 million, before tax, in third quarter 2025.
What to watch
- Business Insurance underlying loss and loss adjustment expense ratio was 59.9, versus 57.9 in third quarter 2025.
- Middle & Large Business combined ratio was 101.7 and underlying combined ratio was 99.5.
- Personal Automobile underlying combined ratio was 96.0, while Homeowners combined ratio was 94.7 after 17.0 points of higher CAY CATs.
- Employee Benefits group disability loss ratio was 76.3, compared with 70.6 in third quarter 2025.
- Annualized LP yield was 10.2%, compared with 6.7% in third quarter 2025.
- Christopher Swift will transition to Executive Chair on March 1, and plans to step down from that role in the second half of 2027.
Balance sheet and cash flow
- Total invested assets of $64.7 billion increased $1.2 billion from Dec. 31, 2025.
- The increase in total invested assets primarily reflected growth in the business and receipt of the $1.12 billion A&E ADC commutation amount, partially offset by an increase in net unrealized losses on fixed maturities, AFS, at fair value due to higher interest rates.
- Book value per diluted share was $68.31 as of Sept. 30, 2026, compared with $66.31 at Dec. 31, 2025.
- Book value per diluted share excluding AOCI was $82.47 as of Sept. 30, 2026, compared with $73.62 at Dec. 31, 2025.
Analysis
The Hartford reported higher statutory profitability in the third quarter, with net income available to common stockholders of $1,317 million, or $4.82 per diluted share, compared with $1,074 million, or $3.77 per diluted share, in third quarter 2025. The increase included $497 million from the impact of commuting the A&E ADC within net favorable PYD. This non-core item was excluded from core earnings, which declined to $956 million from $1,022 million, while core earnings per diluted share declined to $3.50 from $3.59.
Premium and underwriting trends were uneven across the insurance operations. P&C written premiums increased 4%, led by 6% Business Insurance written premium growth to $3,772 million. Business Insurance generated core earnings of $731 million, but its underlying combined ratio increased to 90.1 from 89.4 as its underlying loss and loss adjustment expense ratio increased to 59.9 from 57.9. Personal Insurance written premiums declined to $950 million from $987 million amid continued competitive pressure on automobile new business, although its underlying combined ratio improved to 87.1 from 90.0 as earned pricing increases outpaced loss cost trends.
Catastrophe activity weighed on reported underwriting results. P&C CAY CAT losses were $198 million, before tax, compared with $70 million in the prior-year quarter. In Personal Insurance, CAY CAT losses increased to $92 million from $31 million and the reported combined ratio increased to 93.2 from 88.7, despite the underlying ratio improvement. Employee Benefits produced 4% growth in fully insured ongoing premiums to $1,662 million, but core earnings declined to $120 million from $149 million as the loss ratio increased to 74.9% from 70.1%. The group disability loss ratio increased to 76.3 from 70.6 and the group life loss ratio increased to 77.8 from 74.2.
Investment income provided a material offset. Net investment income increased to $850 million, before tax, from $755 million, supported by limited partnerships and other alternative investments and a higher level of invested assets. LP income increased to $156 million from $91 million, and annualized LP yield increased to 10.2% from 6.7%. Excluding limited partnerships and other alternative investments, net investment income increased 5% to $694 million. The release also reported $116 million of net realized losses, before tax, compared with $17 million of net realized losses in the prior-year quarter.
Capital return remained substantial, with $638 million returned to stockholders through $475 million of share repurchases and $163 million of common dividends paid. The quarterly common dividend was increased 12% to $0.67. Total invested assets were $64.7 billion, up $1.2 billion from Dec. 31, 2025, while book value per diluted share was $68.31 and book value per diluted share excluding AOCI was $82.47. The filing did not provide forward financial guidance, so the next reported trends in catastrophe losses, underlying loss ratios, competitive Personal Insurance growth, Employee Benefits claims, and LP investment income remain key operating markers.
Management, verbatim
The Hartford delivered another quarter of strong results in an increasingly competitive market.
Christopher Swift, Chairman and CEO
Business Insurance delivered a solid quarter, with 6 percent written premium growth and an underlying combined ratio of 90.1.
Beth Costello, Chief Financial Officer
With our strategy, priorities and commitment to disciplined execution unchanged, The Hartford remains well positioned to continue delivering outstanding ROEs and attractive returns for shareholders.
Christopher Swift, Chairman and CEO
Not in the filing
stated, not guessed- Forward revenue, margin, expense, tax-rate and other financial guidance were not provided.
- Prior outlook was not provided.
- Operating cash flow was not provided.
- Free cash flow was not provided.
- Cash balance was not provided.
- Debt balance was not provided.
- Consolidated gross margin was not provided.
- Consolidated operating income was not provided.
- Quarterly income tax rate was not provided.
AlphAI analysis generated from the company’s SEC earnings filing (Form 8-K Item 2.02, or Form 6-K for a foreign private issuer). Every figure was cross-checked against the filing text; consensus estimates, price targets and share-price reactions are not shown because they are not in the filing. AI-generated research, not investment advice.