The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Receives $174.13 Average Target Price from Brokerages

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $174.13.

THG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price on 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. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.08, for a total value of $1,860,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,249,392.28. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,051 shares of company stock worth $4,556,803. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of THG. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 226.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of THG stock opened at $153.20 on Friday. 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 Hanover Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $166.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $157.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.13.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.41 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.