The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $165.06 and last traded at $164.68, with a volume of 35291 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $163.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on 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 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 note on Friday, November 1st. 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. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.52. The company has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.70. 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 (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

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 value of $252,889.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.08, for a total transaction of $1,860,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,249,392.28. The trade was a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,303 shares of company stock valued at $6,306,926. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Hanover Insurance Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners raised its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,794 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 6,753 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the first quarter worth about $2,349,000. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $867,000. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 254,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,620,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $681,000. Institutional investors 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.