Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $3.10 Million Holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 71.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,614 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $3,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 112,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,661 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,687 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at about $383,000. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the first quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.9% in the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 280,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,706,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on THG shares. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price target on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $198.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Denise Lowsley sold 1,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.47, for a total transaction of $293,799.93. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $637,141.17. This trade represents a 31.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

The Hanover Insurance Group stock opened at $182.20 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.81. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.44. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $145.17 and a one year high of $186.46.

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

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

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

About The Hanover Insurance Group

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.