The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,317 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,253 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $2,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,837 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 14,450 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,604,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,339,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 253,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,119,000 after acquiring an additional 7,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,677.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

NYSE:THG opened at $129.82 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 138.11 and a beta of 0.67. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.82 and a fifty-two week high of $138.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.62. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 0.59% and a return on equity of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 361.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on THG shares. StockNews.com raised The Hanover Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.83.

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.