Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 42,546 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Verition Fund Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 95.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,010 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 42,546 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 20.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 41.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,544 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,048 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on THG shares. Bank of America boosted their price target 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. JMP Securities increased their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.29.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of THG opened at $154.16 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.71. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.36 and a 12-month high of $166.13. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.41 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,551 shares of company stock valued at $4,781,935. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.