New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,781 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 526 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.13% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $5,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 14.0% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,446 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,160,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the first quarter worth $209,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 13,423 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,007,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:THG opened at $128.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $131.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.55. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.82 and a 12-month high of $138.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.63 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.62. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 2.44% and a net margin of 0.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 361.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on THG. StockNews.com upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. TheStreet upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $65,570.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,677.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.