Franklin Resources Inc. Has $188.36 Million Stock Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 270,491 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 3.38% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $188,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in THG. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 170,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,270,000 after buying an additional 17,583 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 104.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,772,000 after buying an additional 6,112 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.0% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 1,802 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on THG. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:THG opened at $175.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.66. The company has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $176.16.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 6.83%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.80%.

Insider Activity

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, CEO John C. Roche sold 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $52,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,772,450. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.