The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 651 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.12% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $6,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 14,711.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $219,883,000 after buying an additional 143,339 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the second quarter worth approximately $14,684,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $14,150,000 after acquiring an additional 61,738 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on THG shares. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total transaction of $992,669.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,051 shares of company stock worth $4,556,803. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Down 1.3 %

THG opened at $150.10 on Thursday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.36 and a 1 year high of $166.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $156.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 0.71.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.41 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

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.