Channing Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Channing Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 976 shares during the quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $11,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $219,883,000 after purchasing an additional 143,339 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth $8,612,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 40.2% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 164,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,309,000 after buying an additional 47,071 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,276,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth about $4,903,000. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of THG stock opened at $163.57 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $158.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.46. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.66 and a 1-year high of $173.30. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 30.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on THG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.25.

About The Hanover Insurance Group

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.