Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,973 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 149.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 417,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $50,725,000 after purchasing an additional 250,254 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,623,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $439,998,000 after purchasing an additional 13,030 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth about $247,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 8.0% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,673 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of THG opened at $154.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.73 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.22 and a 1-year high of $154.94.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 12.42%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.91) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 4,800 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.41, for a total transaction of $721,968.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,151,623.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kathy S. Lane sold 1,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.23, for a total value of $252,889.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.41, for a total transaction of $721,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 80,790 shares in the company, valued at $12,151,623.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,303 shares of company stock valued at $2,511,243. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on THG. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $147.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.20.

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.