Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 36.2%, owning 59,835 shares after selling 33,890 shares in the first quarter.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.35, exceeding consensus estimates of $3.07, while revenue increased by 3.1% year-over-year to $1.58 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90, yielding 2.1%, and its dividend payout ratio stands at 23.70%.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 36.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,835 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 33,890 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 0.17% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $10,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 1st quarter worth $64,340,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.1% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 907,760 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $157,905,000 after acquiring an additional 282,233 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 75.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,356 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $44,443,000 after acquiring an additional 123,793 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1,575.5% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 129,848 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $20,082,000 after acquiring an additional 122,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,670 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $59,338,000 after acquiring an additional 110,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on THG shares. JMP Securities set a $205.00 target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

NYSE THG traded up $0.05 on Friday, hitting $173.47. 183,120 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,902. 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 Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.37 and a 1-year high of $178.68. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $168.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.45.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.07 by $1.28. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. 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%.

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.