Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $1.90 Million Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,259 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,321 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $1,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,928,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $188,363,000 after purchasing an additional 270,491 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 4th quarter valued at $21,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,858 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $148,297,000 after buying an additional 130,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 75.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,356 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $44,443,000 after buying an additional 123,793 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, CEO John C. Roche sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total transaction of $35,002.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,749,892.78. This represents a 0.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan J. Salvatore sold 10,526 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.60, for a total value of $1,753,631.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,942.40. This trade represents a 28.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,027 shares of company stock valued at $1,841,309 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on THG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of 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. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.50.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE THG traded down $1.11 on Tuesday, hitting $176.93. 304,236 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 211,616. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $165.53 and a 200 day moving average of $162.04. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.66 and a twelve month high of $178.71. The company has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.44.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 6.83%. The business's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group's payout ratio is 29.98%.

About The Hanover Insurance Group

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.