The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87, Zacks reports. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 4.6 %

THG stock opened at $159.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.69. The Hanover Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $166.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is an increase from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,100 shares of company stock worth $1,951,223. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on THG. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.88.

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.