AlphaQuest LLC Sells 19,142 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 86.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,894 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 19,142 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of THG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $219,883,000 after acquiring an additional 143,339 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,239,701 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $183,612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 660,272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $97,816,000 after purchasing an additional 16,800 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 369,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,733,000 after buying an additional 17,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 349,125 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,996,000 after buying an additional 24,290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of THG stock opened at $166.36 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $159.12 and a 200 day moving average of $154.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.66 and a 1-year high of $173.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.65.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 6.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 30.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on THG shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.25.

The Hanover Insurance Group Company 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.