The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Short Interest Down 22.6% in October

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 248,300 shares, a decrease of 22.6% from the October 15th total of 320,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 177,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.25, for a total transaction of $69,125.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,013 shares in the company, valued at $416,547.25. This represents a 14.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $45,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,459,950. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,303 shares of company stock worth $6,306,926. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on THG. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

THG traded up $1.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 163,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,902. 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 has a one year low of $116.70 and a one year high of $164.67. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.47.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.