Markel Group Inc. Acquires 14,000 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 254,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. owned about 0.71% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $37,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,794 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 6,753 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 1st quarter worth $2,349,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 65.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,926 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,624,000 after purchasing an additional 4,738 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $867,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $681,000. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, Director Kathy S. Lane sold 1,884 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was 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 hyperlink. In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,249,392.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kathy S. Lane sold 1,884 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.23, for a total value of $252,889.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,303 shares of company stock worth $4,372,203 in the last quarter. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on THG. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $173.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

THG stock traded up $3.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $159.62. 199,681 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 174,641. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $148.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.31. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $112.22 and a one year high of $160.23. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.22 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

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.