John C. Roche Sells 200 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Stock

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) CEO John C. Roche sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total value of $35,002.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,278 shares in the company, valued at $21,749,892.78. This represents a 0.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of THG opened at $172.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.16. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $176.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 6.83%. Analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,613,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $558,934,000 after acquiring an additional 23,565 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,489,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $230,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,239,701 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $183,612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $188,363,000 after purchasing an additional 270,491 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,087,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,237,000 after purchasing an additional 43,918 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on THG shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.25.

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.