The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG Shares Sold by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 42.9% in Q1, owning 43,698 shares worth $7.60 million after selling 32,805 shares.
• Institutions hold 86.61% of The Hanover Insurance Group's stock, with several investors like Strs Ohio and Acadian Asset Management making significant changes to their stakes in Q1.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported a $4.35 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations, along with a dividend of $0.90 per share set to be paid on September 26th.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 42.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,698 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 32,805 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $7,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 6.7% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,063 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.8% in the first quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 4,886 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $850,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,100 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of THG stock traded down $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $180.47. The stock had a trading volume of 188,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 179,579. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.48 and a 12-month high of $182.64. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.44. 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 (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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

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 $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. 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 price target on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.13.

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.