Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Purchases 18,700 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,700 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $12,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Markel Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $37,620,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $867,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the second quarter worth approximately $681,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $431,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 3,840 shares during the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on THG shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on 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 lowered The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of THG stock opened at $163.32 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.71. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.36 and a 52-week high of $166.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $180,132.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,983 shares in the company, valued at $12,906,908.13. This trade represents a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,551 shares of company stock worth $4,781,935. Insiders own 2.50% 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.