Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG – Get Rating) by 139.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,124 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $3,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth $244,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth $737,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 602,026 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $81,353,000 after purchasing an additional 59,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.39% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:THG opened at $111.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3,727.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.69. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $111.44 and a one year high of $149.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a positive return on equity of 3.62% and a negative net margin of 0.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10,796.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on THG. TheStreet lowered The Hanover Insurance Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 9th. Bank of America lowered The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $142.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $153.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $148.00 to $141.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.71.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.51, for a total transaction of $119,395.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at $564,428.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Company Profile

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The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc is a holding company that engages in the provision of property and casualty products and services. It operates through the following segments: Core Commercial, Specialty, Personal Lines and Other. The Core Commercial segment includes commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile, workers compensation and other core commercial coverage, such as general liability, commercial umbrella and monoline property.