Oak Thistle LLC Invests $1.05 Million in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 6,761 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,046,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 10,341 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 104.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after buying an additional 6,112 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 82.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 5,194 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 62,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.8% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

NYSE THG opened at $156.53 on Thursday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $166.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $157.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.74. 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 (NYSE:THG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The Hanover Insurance Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report 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 objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Finally, JMP Securities increased 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 5,886 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.05, for a total transaction of $942,054.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,635,810.25. This trade represents a 8.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,100 shares of company stock valued at $3,812,183. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.