The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Downgraded by Janney Montgomery Scott to Neutral

Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $176.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

THG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer upped 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. JMP Securities lifted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:THG opened at $163.60 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 1 year low of $119.36 and a 1 year high of $165.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.70.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The Hanover Insurance Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total value of $1,219,476.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,826.81. This represents a 18.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,919 shares of company stock valued at $5,984,912 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,794 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 6,753 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 1st quarter worth about $2,349,000. Markel Group Inc. boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 254,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,620,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $867,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the second quarter worth about $681,000. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.