The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $174.13.

THG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price 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.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.08, for a total transaction of $1,860,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,249,392.28. This trade represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 28,900 shares of company stock worth $4,534,151 over the last quarter. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of THG. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,022,000 after buying an additional 10,341 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 104.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 6,112 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 82.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 5,194 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.8% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 254,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,620,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 170,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,270,000 after purchasing an additional 17,583 shares during the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:THG opened at $152.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15 and a beta of 0.72. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $166.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $157.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.74. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.41 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

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.