Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $8.83 Million Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,967 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned about 0.15% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $8,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of THG. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.1% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 907,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $157,905,000 after buying an additional 282,233 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 166.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 346,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,235,000 after acquiring an additional 216,427 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 457,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $79,032,000 after acquiring an additional 170,453 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 25.6% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 464,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $78,932,000 after purchasing an additional 94,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 9.3% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 940,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $163,604,000 after purchasing an additional 80,262 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on THG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $198.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

NYSE:THG opened at $176.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.17 and a 1 year high of $186.46.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $5.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 22.43% and a net margin of 9.71%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.05 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 20.82%.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.