Ieq Capital LLC Increases Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 19.0%, owning a total of 15,154 shares valued at approximately $2.636 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for The Hanover Insurance Group, with a consensus target price of $185.13 and multiple upgrades to "outperform" ratings.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported an EPS of $4.35 in its last quarterly earnings, surpassing analyst expectations by $1.28, with revenues of $1.58 billion.

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,154 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,423 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $2,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 82,886 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $14,418,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 112,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,592,000 after buying an additional 7,661 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 881.5% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 3,926 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,351 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. 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 target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $185.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE THG opened at $173.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.45. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.37 and a 12 month high of $178.68. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $168.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.07 by $1.28. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. Analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

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

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