Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Price Target to $142.00

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) had its target price upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $137.00 to $142.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $140.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

THG stock opened at $128.43 on Wednesday. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 1 year low of $103.82 and a 1 year high of $138.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $131.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.63 and a beta of 0.67.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.62. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 2.44% and a net margin of 0.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 361.71%.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $65,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,677.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 321.8% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 51,519 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,718,000 after purchasing an additional 39,306 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,290,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 547.8% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 13,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 11,416 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 189,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,975,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $455,000. 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.