The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.90

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 2nd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of 0.90 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85.

The Hanover Insurance Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. The Hanover Insurance Group has a dividend payout ratio of 24.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect The Hanover Insurance Group to earn $13.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.8%.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE THG traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $163.57. The company had a trading volume of 10,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,724. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.71. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 1-year low of $119.36 and a 1-year high of $166.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $154.04 and its 200-day moving average is $140.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $180,132.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,906,908.13. This represents a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 30,551 shares of company stock valued at $4,781,935 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.