The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $140.83.

Several research firms have recently commented on THG. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction 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 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of 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 period. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 1.3 %

THG opened at $129.59 on Friday. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 1-year low of $103.82 and a 1-year high of $138.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 137.86 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.80.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.62. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 0.59% and a return on equity of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 361.71%.

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.