Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Stock Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,259 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,321 shares during the quarter. 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.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in THG. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 10,341 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,684 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $11,832,000 after purchasing an additional 25,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,226 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities increased their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on The Hanover Insurance Group from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.50.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

NYSE:THG traded down $1.21 on Thursday, hitting $172.15. The stock had a trading volume of 214,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 212,250. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $165.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $162.28. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $178.68.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.29. The firm 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 18.01% and a net margin of 6.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group's payout ratio is currently 29.98%.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, CEO John C. Roche sold 301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $52,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,772,450. The trade was a 0.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan J. Salvatore sold 10,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,308,942.40. The trade was a 28.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,027 shares of company stock worth $1,841,309 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.