The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Trading 0.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)’s stock price rose 0.7% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $164.99 and last traded at $163.85. Approximately 15,912 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 173,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on THG shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.50. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.70.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 33.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total value of $1,219,476.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,281 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,826.81. This trade represents a 18.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.25, for a total transaction of $69,125.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $416,547.25. This represents a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,419 shares of company stock valued at $6,054,037 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 14,711.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 552,450 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $81,823,000 after purchasing an additional 548,720 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 10.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $219,883,000 after buying an additional 143,339 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,684,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 116.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 114,643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,150,000 after buying an additional 61,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.