The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) CEO Sells $35,002.00 in Stock

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) CEO John C. Roche sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total transaction of $35,002.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,749,892.78. This represents a 0.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE THG traded down $2.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $172.55. 217,705 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 192,477. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.66 and a twelve month high of $175.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76 and a beta of 0.65.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released 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 return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 6.83%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

THG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hanover Insurance Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,613,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $558,934,000 after purchasing an additional 23,565 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,489,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $230,349,000 after buying an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 buying an additional 3,780 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,363,000 after acquiring an additional 270,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,087,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,237,000 after acquiring an additional 43,918 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.