Hodges Capital Management Inc. Acquires 25,089 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 48.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 25,089 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned 0.21% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $11,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,669 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $293,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,483 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,168,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,684 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on THG shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $174.88.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,951,223. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:THG traded up $5.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $166.12. 457,059 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 217,790. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.72. 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 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $155.75 and a 200 day moving average of $149.81.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group's payout ratio is 35.71%.

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.