The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Price Target Raised to $176.00

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $170.00 to $176.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on THG. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer upped 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped 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 note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Four 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of THG stock opened at $147.33 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 1 year low of $119.66 and a 1 year high of $166.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 0.72.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its earnings results 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 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is an increase from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 4,800 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,790 shares in the company, valued at $12,151,623.90. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,900 shares of company stock valued at $4,534,151. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in THG. Barclays PLC raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,022,000 after acquiring an additional 10,341 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 104.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 6,112 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 82.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 5,194 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.8% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 254,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,620,000 after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 170,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,270,000 after acquiring an additional 17,583 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.