Invesco Ltd. Lowers Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 12.0%, owning approximately 263,190 shares valued at $45.78 million.
• Recent changes in analyst ratings include Citigroup maintaining an "outperform" rating while Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $170 to $185, indicating a generally positive outlook for the company.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported earnings per share of $4.35, exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 263,190 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 35,732 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.73% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $45,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 23,642 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,656,000 after buying an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at $8,612,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 34,817 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 7,662 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,201 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at $407,000. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on THG shares. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $185.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock traded up $2.5010 on Tuesday, hitting $172.2310. 162,763 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 269,011. 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 company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $167.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.42. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.93 and a 52 week high of $178.68.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. The Hanover Insurance Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. 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 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.