The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Short Interest Update

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 211,200 shares, a decrease of 33.1% from the November 15th total of 315,500 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 180,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

THG traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $154.12. 138,534 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,462. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 1-year low of $119.36 and a 1-year high of $166.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.71. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.19.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 12,000 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.08, for a total transaction of $1,860,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,249,392.28. The trade was a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,551 shares of company stock valued at $4,781,935. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 14,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on THG shares. JMP Securities raised their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.29.

The Hanover Insurance Group Company 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.