The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $1.87 EPS

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87, Zacks reports. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE THG opened at $152.60 on Wednesday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.62. The Hanover Insurance Group has a twelve month low of $119.66 and a twelve month high of $166.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.72.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,214.76. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,100 shares of company stock worth $1,951,223. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on THG. Barclays upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.88.

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.