The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 315,500 shares, a growth of 27.1% from the October 31st total of 248,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 189,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on THG. Bank of America upped 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. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded 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, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,733 shares in the company, valued at $13,459,950. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,551 shares of company stock worth $4,781,935. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 0.5 %

The Hanover Insurance Group stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $165.01. The stock had a trading volume of 124,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,526. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $153.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.48. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 12 month low of $119.36 and a 12 month high of $166.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.43 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.73%.

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.