The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) to Issue Dividend Increase - $0.90 Per Share

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 2nd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.90 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. 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.

The Hanover Insurance Group has increased its dividend by an average of 7.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. The Hanover Insurance Group has a dividend payout ratio of 24.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect The Hanover Insurance Group to earn $13.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.8%.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

The Hanover Insurance Group stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $163.32. 163,292 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 175,235. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 12-month low of $119.36 and a 12-month high of $166.13. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.92. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.71.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in 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 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $173.83.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 12,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 66,091 shares in the company, valued at $10,249,392.28. This represents a 15.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 30,551 shares of company stock worth $4,781,935 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.