The Hanover Insurance Group (THG) Competitors

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) and W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Which has more risk & volatility, THG or WRB?

The Hanover Insurance Group has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W. R. Berkley has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of THG or WRB?

86.6% of The Hanover Insurance Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.8% of W. R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of The Hanover Insurance Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.0% of W. R. Berkley shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer THG or WRB?

The Hanover Insurance Group received 37 more outperform votes than W. R. Berkley when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.03% of users gave The Hanover Insurance Group an outperform vote while only 51.33% of users gave W. R. Berkley an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
The Hanover Insurance Group	Outperform Votes 365 60.03%	Underperform Votes 243 39.97%
W. R. Berkley	Outperform Votes 328 51.33%	Underperform Votes 311 48.67%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, THG or WRB?

W. R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than The Hanover Insurance Group. W. R. Berkley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Hanover Insurance Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
The Hanover Insurance Group	$6.16B	0.95	$35.30M	$10.08	16.10
W. R. Berkley	$12.14B	1.91	$1.38B	$3.90	15.61

Does the media favor THG or WRB?

In the previous week, W. R. Berkley had 10 more articles in the media than The Hanover Insurance Group. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for W. R. Berkley and 7 mentions for The Hanover Insurance Group. The Hanover Insurance Group's average media sentiment score of 1.51 beat W. R. Berkley's score of 0.99 indicating that The Hanover Insurance Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
The Hanover Insurance Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
W. R. Berkley	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is THG or WRB a better dividend stock?

The Hanover Insurance Group pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. W. R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. The Hanover Insurance Group pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. W. R. Berkley pays out 8.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. The Hanover Insurance Group has increased its dividend for 19 consecutive years and W. R. Berkley has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years.

Do analysts prefer THG or WRB?

The Hanover Insurance Group presently has a consensus target price of $173.40, indicating a potential upside of 6.84%. W. R. Berkley has a consensus target price of $63.08, indicating a potential upside of 3.52%. Given The Hanover Insurance Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe The Hanover Insurance Group is more favorable than W. R. Berkley.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Hanover Insurance Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
W. R. Berkley	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Is THG or WRB more profitable?

W. R. Berkley has a net margin of 11.96% compared to The Hanover Insurance Group's net margin of 5.92%. W. R. Berkley's return on equity of 20.41% beat The Hanover Insurance Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Hanover Insurance Group	5.92%	15.53%	2.72%
W. R. Berkley	11.96%	20.41%	4.16%

Summary

W. R. Berkley beats The Hanover Insurance Group on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.