The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 657,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 30,703 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 1.84% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $111,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,635,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $632,338,000 after purchasing an additional 21,221 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 9.3% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 940,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $163,604,000 after buying an additional 80,262 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $157,905,000 after buying an additional 282,233 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 25.6% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 464,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $78,932,000 after buying an additional 94,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 457,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,032,000 after buying an additional 170,453 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

THG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities set a $205.00 target price on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Monday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.83.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

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 shares were sold at an average price of $181.47, for a total value of $293,799.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $637,141.17. This trade represents a 31.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 0.5%

THG opened at $184.29 on Tuesday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.17 and a 52 week high of $186.46. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.60. The firm has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.44.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $5.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.30. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 22.43% and a net margin of 9.71%.The firm 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 business earned $3.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

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

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.