The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Trading Up 0.8% – What’s Next?

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)’s share price traded up 0.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $164.51 and last traded at $164.38. 17,867 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 175,167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on THG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total value of $1,219,476.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,826.81. This trade represents a 18.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,733 shares in the company, valued at $13,459,950. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,019 shares of company stock worth $6,001,412. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in THG. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 14,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 8.7% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Company Profile

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various property and casualty insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Core Commercial, Specialty, Personal Lines, and Other. The Commercial Lines segment offers commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile, workers' compensation, and other commercial lines coverage.