Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 5,279 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 64,387 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,279 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.18% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $9,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 369,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,733,000 after buying an additional 17,856 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 23.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 19.5% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 10,839 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 170,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,270,000 after acquiring an additional 17,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 104.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 6,112 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE THG opened at $174.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 0.65. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $119.66 and a one year high of $175.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 18.01%. Analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 30.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.25.

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.