The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $165.06 and last traded at $164.68, with a volume of 35291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

THG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $151.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.96. The company has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.70.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 33.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.25, for a total transaction of $69,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,547.25. This represents a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total transaction of $992,669.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,419 shares of company stock valued at $6,054,037. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 15.9% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 660,272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $97,816,000 after purchasing an additional 16,800 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 10,341 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 9.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 56.3% during the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,615,000 after purchasing an additional 18,524 shares during the period. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.