Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Stock

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $170.00 to $176.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on THG. JMP Securities increased their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:THG opened at $147.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $157.61 and its 200 day moving average is $145.79. 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 Hanover Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $166.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.41 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.08, for a total transaction of $1,860,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,249,392.28. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 28,900 shares of company stock worth $4,534,151 over the last three months. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in THG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 10.7% in the 3rd 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. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,239,701 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $183,612,000 after acquiring an additional 3,780 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 997,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,667,000 after buying an additional 4,717 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 802,033 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,607,000 after acquiring an additional 33,249 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,109 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,111,000 after buying an additional 30,536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.