AlphaQuest LLC Decreases Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 85.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,448 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $341,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,635,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $632,338,000 after acquiring an additional 21,221 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 940,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $163,604,000 after buying an additional 80,262 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 907,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $157,905,000 after buying an additional 282,233 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 464,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $78,932,000 after buying an additional 94,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 59.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 457,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,032,000 after buying an additional 170,453 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. JMP Securities set a $205.00 target price on The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a 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 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $188.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE THG opened at $169.96 on Friday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.17 and a 12 month high of $186.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $176.39 and a 200-day moving average of $170.68.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $5.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.30. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 22.43% and a net margin of 9.71%.The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.05 earnings per share. The Hanover Insurance Group’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.70%.

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.