Congress Asset Management Co. Grows Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 42.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,091 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,750 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 0.13% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $7,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in THG. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 14,711.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 552,450 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $81,823,000 after buying an additional 548,720 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $219,883,000 after purchasing an additional 143,339 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 164,130 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $24,309,000 after purchasing an additional 47,071 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,276,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 48.8% during the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $11,832,000 after buying an additional 25,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on THG. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $176.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised The Hanover Insurance Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $175.25.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:THG traded down $0.54 on Thursday, reaching $158.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 150,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 222,613. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.63. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $166.98. 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 $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 0.72.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.80%.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.