Hantz Financial Services Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,483 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $3,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of THG. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 3,840 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at $1,673,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,138,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $78,000. 86.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares in the company, valued at $8,782,214.76. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,951,223. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock opened at $155.53 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.95. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.66 and a 12 month high of $166.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 0.72. 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 Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This is an increase from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

THG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.88.

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.