Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Raises Holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 109 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 235 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4,400.0% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 37.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock opened at $132.39 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.28. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.82 and a 12 month high of $138.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.47. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.00% and a net margin of 2.67%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. As a group, analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

THG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Monday, April 15th. TheStreet raised The Hanover Insurance Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Willard T. Lee sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $135,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,398 shares in the company, valued at $597,864.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

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.