The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Short Interest Down 22.6% in October

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 248,300 shares, a drop of 22.6% from the October 15th total of 320,700 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 177,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total transaction of $1,219,476.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,224,826.81. The trade was a 18.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 300 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $45,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,459,950. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,303 shares of company stock valued at $6,306,926. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 14,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 8.7% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of THG traded up $1.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $163.48. The stock had a trading volume of 163,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,902. The company’s 50-day moving average is $150.50 and its 200 day moving average is $138.47. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 12-month low of $116.70 and a 12-month high of $164.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.70.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on THG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.40.

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.