FJ Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

FJ Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 267.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,032 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $4,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 56.6% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 819.0% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 386 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 20.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 468 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 119.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on THG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $198.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE THG opened at $184.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.33. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.17 and a 1-year high of $188.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $178.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.89.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $5.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 21.73% and a net margin of 9.71%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Denise Lowsley sold 1,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.47, for a total value of $293,799.93. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,511 shares in the company, valued at $637,141.17. This trade represents a 31.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.