State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 200 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

State of Michigan Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $1,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 44,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on THG shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $147.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.50.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

NYSE:THG opened at $143.98 on Friday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.82 and a 52 week high of $144.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.15. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.28 and a beta of 0.68.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 12.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.91) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.53 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 76.23%.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.25, for a total value of $69,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $416,547.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.25, for a total value of $69,125.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $416,547.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathy S. Lane sold 1,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.23, for a total value of $252,889.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.