The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) saw a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 248,300 shares, a decrease of 22.6% from the October 15th total of 320,700 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 177,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

THG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on 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. JMP Securities upped their price target 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. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

THG stock traded up $1.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.48. The company had a trading volume of 163,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,902. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.47. The Hanover Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $116.70 and a fifty-two week high of $164.67.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is 33.73%.

Insider Activity

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, Director Kathy S. Lane sold 1,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.23, for a total transaction of $252,889.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,303 shares of company stock valued at $6,306,926. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 14,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 8.7% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.