Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys New Shares in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 1st quarter worth $64,340,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 75.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,356 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,443,000 after acquiring an additional 123,793 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 1,575.5% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 129,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,082,000 after acquiring an additional 122,098 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $59,338,000 after acquiring an additional 110,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth $15,137,000. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, EVP Bryan J. Salvatore sold 10,526 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.60, for a total transaction of $1,753,631.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,942.40. This trade represents a 28.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on THG. Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $188.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of THG opened at $168.69 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $168.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.60 and a 1-year high of $178.68.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by $1.28. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.70%.

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.