Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Takes Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $691,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,613,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $558,934,000 after purchasing an additional 23,565 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,239,701 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $183,612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,363,000 after purchasing an additional 270,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,858 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,297,000 after buying an additional 130,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John C. Roche sold 301 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $52,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,772,450. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on THG shares. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $176.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on 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. Barclays raised The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

THG opened at $157.82 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.01. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $176.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.47.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.80%.

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.