The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Price Target Raised to $176.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) had its price target upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $170.00 to $176.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

THG has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock opened at $147.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 0.72. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 12-month low of $119.66 and a 12-month high of $166.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $157.61 and its 200-day moving average is $145.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is an increase from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.41, for a total value of $721,968.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,790 shares in the company, valued at $12,151,623.90. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 28,900 shares of company stock worth $4,534,151 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in THG. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,261 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,162,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,028 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 68,125.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the second quarter valued at about $294,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 8.1% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 17,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.