The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG Shares Sold by Interval Partners LP

Key Points

• Interval Partners LP reduced its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, selling 5.8% of its shares, bringing its total to 91,227 shares worth approximately $15.87 million.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported earnings per share of $4.35, exceeding analyst expectations of $3.07, with revenues of $1.58 billion for the last quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.0%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 12th.

Interval Partners LP decreased its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,227 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,618 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP owned about 0.25% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $15,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,498 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 2,671 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth about $369,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,277 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,114 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company's stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE THG traded down $3.76 on Friday, hitting $177.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 194,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 181,865. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.48 and a 12-month high of $181.38. The company has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.22 and a 200-day moving average of $167.78.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. The Hanover Insurance Group's payout ratio is currently 23.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Friday, August 1st. 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 objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $205.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.13.

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.