Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 26,228 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,280,831 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 26,228 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 3.55% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $198,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,928,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $188,363,000 after buying an additional 270,491 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth $21,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,858 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,297,000 after buying an additional 130,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,612,000. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on THG shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $179.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.00.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, CEO John C. Roche sold 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $52,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,772,450. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of THG stock opened at $161.72 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.23. The company has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.66 and a twelve month high of $176.16.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 18.01%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 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, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 30.80%.

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.