Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $2,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in THG. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 502.1% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 226.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,782,214.76. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,100 shares of company stock worth $1,951,223. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

NYSE THG opened at $153.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 0.72. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $166.13. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.41.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

THG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.88.

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.