International Assets Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 99.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,730 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 548,720 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 10,341 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 104.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,772,000 after buying an additional 6,112 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 82.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,702,000 after buying an additional 5,194 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 254,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,620,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 170,615 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,270,000 after buying an additional 17,583 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,782,214.76. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 28,900 shares of company stock valued at $4,534,151 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE THG traded down $5.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $147.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 207,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,124. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.12. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.66 and a 12 month high of $166.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group's payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on THG shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler boosted 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.88.

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.