Jeffrey M. Farber Sells 100 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Stock

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 100 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $16,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 49,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,097,870. This trade represents a 0.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

THG stock opened at $164.27 on Thursday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.36 and a fifty-two week high of $165.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on THG. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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 note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in THG. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,794 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 6,753 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at about $2,349,000. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the first quarter worth approximately $867,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $681,000. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.