The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Receives $185.13 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $185.1250.

THG has been the topic of several research reports. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $188.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $77,169,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the first quarter valued at about $64,340,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 36.1% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,280,418 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $217,505,000 after purchasing an additional 339,896 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.1% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 907,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $157,905,000 after purchasing an additional 282,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 166.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 346,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,235,000 after buying an additional 216,427 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:THG opened at $174.46 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $171.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.52. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 52-week low of $142.48 and a 52-week high of $182.64.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by $1.28. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.24%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 14.37 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 23.70%.

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.