Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 2,831 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. has reduced its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.4%, selling 2,831 shares and maintaining ownership of approximately 61,556 shares, valued at $10.7 million.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, beating expectations, and its revenue increased by 3.4% year-over-year despite slightly missing analysts' projections.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, yielding 2.16%, with an annualized dividend payout of $3.60.

Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,556 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,831 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $10,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 62.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,692 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 2,578 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 3.1% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 13,598 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Burney Co. bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 6.4% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 10,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $435,000. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:THG opened at $166.85 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $168.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.56. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.60 and a fifty-two week high of $178.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.55 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 18.23% and a net margin of 6.98%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group's payout ratio is presently 29.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

THG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.38.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Bryan J. Salvatore sold 10,526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.60, for a total transaction of $1,753,631.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,942.40. This represents a 28.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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