2,798 Shares in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG Acquired by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,798 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in THG. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 819.0% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 386 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 20.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 468 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 119.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Denise Lowsley sold 1,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.47, for a total value of $293,799.93. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $637,141.17. This trade represents a 31.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on THG. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $198.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of THG opened at $182.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.17 and a 1 year high of $186.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $176.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.81.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $5.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.30. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 22.43%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 20.82%.

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.