The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Trading Up 0.3% – What’s Next?

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $162.93 and last traded at $162.76. 23,822 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 173,859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on THG. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer boosted 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. 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 note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.29 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 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 33.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $45,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,459,950. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total value of $1,219,476.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,281 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,826.81. This trade represents a 18.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,419 shares of company stock valued at $6,054,037. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 660,272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $97,816,000 after acquiring an additional 16,800 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,022,000 after acquiring an additional 10,341 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 56.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,615,000 after acquiring an additional 18,524 shares during the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.