The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Cut to “Neutral” at 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 report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $176.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

THG has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JMP Securities lifted 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 0.5 %

THG opened at $163.60 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $152.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.70. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 12 month low of $119.36 and a 12 month high of $165.27.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction on 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 owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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 $5,224,826.81. This trade represents a 18.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,419 shares of company stock valued at $6,054,037. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in THG. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in 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. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 14,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position 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 worth $168,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.