The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $176.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

THG opened at $162.74 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $151.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.13. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 12-month low of $119.21 and a 12-month high of $165.27. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.70.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The Hanover Insurance Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.29 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total value of $1,219,476.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,826.81. This trade represents a 18.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total transaction of $992,669.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,419 shares of company stock valued at $6,054,037 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 8.7% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.