The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Given Market Outperform Rating at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reiterated their market outperform rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a $150.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

THG has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $147.00 target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $140.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of THG stock opened at $127.76 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.92 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.77. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 52 week low of $103.82 and a 52 week high of $138.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 0.59% and a return on equity of 2.44%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 361.71%.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $65,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,677.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 235 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,590 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,837 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 933 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.