The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG Shares Acquired by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd significantly increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 881.5% to own a total of 3,926 shares, valued at approximately $683,000.
• Investment analysts have set an average price target of $185.13 for The Hanover Insurance Group, with six analysts rating it as a Buy.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, yielding 2.0%, with a payout ratio of 23.70%.

Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 881.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,926 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,498 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,405 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,277 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,114 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,059 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on THG. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised The Hanover Insurance Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $188.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JMP Securities set a $205.00 target price on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $185.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of THG stock traded down $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.47. 188,938 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 180,064. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.48 and a twelve month high of $182.64. The firm has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 0.46. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $170.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

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

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.70%.

The Hanover Insurance Group Company 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.