Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Key Points

• Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 20.5% in the first quarter, now holding 168,359 shares valued at approximately $29 million.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported earnings of $4.35 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.07, despite a slight revenue dip.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.1% with a payout ratio of 23.70%.

Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 20.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,359 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 43,345 shares during the quarter. The Hanover Insurance Group makes up about 1.4% of Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC owned about 0.47% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $29,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on THG. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased 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. 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 objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock traded up $0.05 on Friday, hitting $173.47. 183,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,902. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.37 and a 52 week high of $178.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.19.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.07 by $1.28. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 payout ratio is currently 23.70%.

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.