Ibex Wealth Advisors Purchases Shares of 1,897 The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,483 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,684 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. 86.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

NYSE THG opened at $156.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $156.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.91. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $166.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 directly owns 54,091 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,951,223. Insiders own 2.40% 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.