American Century Companies Inc. Sells 270,655 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.2%, selling 270,655 shares and now owns approximately 1.92% of the company.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported earnings of $4.35 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.07, with a revenue of $1.58 billion for the latest quarter.
• Brokerages have given The Hanover Insurance Group a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $185.13.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 688,203 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 270,655 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.92% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $119,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,635,173 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $632,338,000 after buying an additional 21,221 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 625,527 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $96,744,000 after purchasing an additional 4,168 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 389,634 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $67,777,000 after acquiring an additional 21,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,670 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $59,338,000 after purchasing an additional 110,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company's stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock traded up $2.5010 on Tuesday, hitting $172.2310. The stock had a trading volume of 162,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,011. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $132.93 and a one year high of $178.68. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $167.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.42. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.45.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.07 by $1.28. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on THG. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised The Hanover Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities set a $205.00 target price on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $185.13.

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.