Hodges Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,214 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,484 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $6,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of THG. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 82,886 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,418,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 112,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,661 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,781 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,868,000 after buying an additional 2,687 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,502,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on THG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $198.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of THG stock opened at $179.51 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $176.51 and its 200 day moving average is $171.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.44. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.17 and a twelve month high of $186.46.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $5.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $1.30. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 22.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.05 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 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, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is 20.82%.

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.