The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Shares Up 0.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) shot up 0.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $164.99 and last traded at $163.85. 15,912 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 173,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

THG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. Oppenheimer increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities upped 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 note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.70.

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

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total transaction of $1,219,476.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,826.81. This trade represents a 18.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,419 shares of company stock valued at $6,054,037. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of THG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 10.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $219,883,000 after purchasing an additional 143,339 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,239,701 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $183,612,000 after buying an additional 3,780 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 997,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,667,000 after acquiring an additional 4,717 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 802,033 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,607,000 after acquiring an additional 33,249 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,109 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,111,000 after acquiring an additional 30,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.