Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 7,103 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,284 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,103 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.09% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $4,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in THG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,484,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $219,883,000 after purchasing an additional 143,339 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,239,701 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $183,612,000 after buying an additional 3,780 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 997,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,667,000 after buying an additional 4,717 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,109 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,111,000 after buying an additional 30,536 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 660,272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $97,816,000 after acquiring an additional 16,800 shares during the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of THG stock opened at $156.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.18. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.66 and a 12 month high of $166.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.72.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.71%.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 5,886 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.05, for a total transaction of $942,054.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,635,810.25. The trade was a 8.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 12,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,951,223 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on THG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.