The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Stock Rating Lowered by Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Janney Montgomery Scott currently has $176.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

THG has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of THG stock opened at $162.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $151.55 and its 200 day moving average is $139.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 52-week low of $119.21 and a 52-week high of $165.27.

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

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard W. Lavey sold 8,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total transaction of $1,219,476.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,826.81. This trade represents a 18.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,419 shares of company stock worth $6,054,037 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 64.9% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

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.