The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $1.87 EPS

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87, Zacks reports. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 4.6 %

THG opened at $159.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $155.71 and a 200-day moving average of $149.69. The Hanover Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $166.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. This is an increase from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on THG shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Barclays upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total transaction of $992,669.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,782,214.76. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,100 shares of company stock worth $1,951,223. Insiders own 2.50% 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.