Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 87 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of THG. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at about $64,340,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.1% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 907,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $157,905,000 after acquiring an additional 282,233 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 166.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 346,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,235,000 after acquiring an additional 216,427 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 59.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 457,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,032,000 after acquiring an additional 170,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 25,505.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 86,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $150,990,000 after buying an additional 86,462 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:THG opened at $179.40 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $172.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.95. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.48 and a 52 week high of $182.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.46.

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

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

THG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased 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 research note on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $205.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.13.

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.