Acadian Asset Management LLC Acquires 40,245 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 149.0%, raising its stake to $11.70 million during the first quarter.
• The Hanover Insurance Group's stock has a market cap of $6.53 billion and reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.35 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 2.0%.

Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 149.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,255 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 40,245 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $11,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of THG. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $64,340,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 907,760 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $157,905,000 after purchasing an additional 282,233 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 166.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 346,275 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $60,235,000 after purchasing an additional 216,427 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 457,809 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $79,032,000 after purchasing an additional 170,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 25,505.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 86,801 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $150,990,000 after purchasing an additional 86,462 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

THG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised The Hanover Insurance Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $188.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $205.00 target price on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $185.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock traded up $0.36 on Wednesday, reaching $175.01. 30,753 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 242,742. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $171.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.48 and a fifty-two week high of $182.64.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.07 by $1.28. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 20.24% and a net margin of 8.67%.The Hanover Insurance Group's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.70%.

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.