Hartford Financial up as profit tops estimate

MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Hartford Financial Services Group edged higher Monday evening after the company reported a fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts estimate. The company saw core earnings of $456 million, or 94 cents a share, compared with $256 million, or 52 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier. Analysts expected earnings of 90 cents a share, according to an estimate from FactSet. Looking ahead, Hartford forecast core earnings for the full year 2014 of $1.65 billion to $1.75 billion, including after-tax catastrophe losses of $305 million.Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.