The Hartford’s Shares Jump Amid Merger Speculation

July 14--Shares in The Hartford jumped another 3 percent Monday amid speculation there could be more mergers in the property casualty insurance industry.

The $28 billion blockbuster acquisition of The Chubb Corp. by Ace, announced July 1, is helping fuel takeover talk about possible future deals -- including a potential acquisition of The Hartford Financial Services Group, analyst David Havens of Imperial Capital told Bloomberg News.

The Hartford declined to comment Monday, citing a policy not to comment on market speculation.

Since the Ace-Chubb announcement, shares in The Hartford have risen more than 8 percent. The shares closed at $45.10 Monday, up $1.32 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Some analysts also have said the merger activity in the health insurance industry -- including Hartford-based Aetna Inc.'s acquisition of Humana and an expected union of Anthem Inc. and Bloomfield-based Cigna -- could spill over into property casualty.

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