The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Price Target Raised to $170.00 at Morgan Stanley

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JMP Securities raised their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock opened at $166.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 1 year low of $119.66 and a 1 year high of $166.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.81. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.72.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. Equities analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.71%.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,782,214.76. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,025 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 14,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% 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.