The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $205.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. The Hanover Insurance Group traded as high as $176.16 and last traded at $175.74, with a volume of 44109 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $173.95.

THG has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on 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. Barclays raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John C. Roche sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total transaction of $35,002.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,749,892.78. This trade represents a 0.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of THG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,613,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $558,934,000 after acquiring an additional 23,565 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,489,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $230,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,239,701 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $183,612,000 after buying an additional 3,780 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,363,000 after buying an additional 270,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,087,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,237,000 after acquiring an additional 43,918 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $163.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.46. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 18.01%. Research analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.80%.

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.