The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $164.04 and last traded at $163.54, with a volume of 27562 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $162.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given 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 $173.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Down 0.3 %

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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.18. The stock has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 0.70.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares in the company, valued at $8,782,214.76. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathy S. Lane sold 1,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.23, for a total transaction of $252,889.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,303 shares of company stock valued at $6,306,926 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in THG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $219,883,000 after purchasing an additional 143,339 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 997,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,667,000 after buying an additional 4,717 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 802,033 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,607,000 after acquiring an additional 33,249 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,109 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,111,000 after acquiring an additional 30,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 14,711.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 552,450 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $81,823,000 after purchasing an additional 548,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.