The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Stake Lowered by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,680 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $2,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in THG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 10.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $219,883,000 after buying an additional 143,339 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth about $21,797,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth about $8,612,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 164,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,309,000 after purchasing an additional 47,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,276,000. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on THG. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.25.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of THG stock opened at $166.36 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.65. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $173.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 6.83% and a return on equity of 18.01%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.80%.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.