The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 369,766 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,994 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.03% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $54,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the third quarter worth $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 64.9% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on THG. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $176.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 0.1 %

THG traded down $0.08 on Monday, reaching $153.85. 151,937 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 176,975. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.36. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $119.66 and a one year high of $166.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The Hanover Insurance Group's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.41 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. 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 yield of 2.34%. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is 35.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.41, for a total transaction of $721,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,790 shares in the company, valued at $12,151,623.90. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 29,051 shares of company stock worth $4,556,803 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

About The Hanover Insurance Group

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.