The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG Shares Acquired by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 59.3%, owning approximately 1.27% of the company valued at around $79 million.
• The Hanover Insurance Group reported earnings of $4.35 per share, significantly exceeding the estimate of $3.07, while its revenue was slightly below expectations at $1.58 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.0%, scheduled for payment on September 26th.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 59.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 457,809 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 170,453 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 1.27% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $79,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,635,173 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $632,338,000 after acquiring an additional 21,221 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 907,760 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $157,905,000 after purchasing an additional 282,233 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 389,634 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $67,777,000 after purchasing an additional 21,588 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,340,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 26.3% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 365,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $63,492,000 after purchasing an additional 76,100 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on THG. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 report on Friday, August 1st. JMP Securities set a $205.00 target price on The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $188.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $185.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

NYSE:THG traded down $1.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $177.36. 95,529 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 243,668. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $169.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.01. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.48 and a 52-week high of $181.38. The company has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.46. 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 (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.07 by $1.28. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 20.24% and a net margin of 8.67%.The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, September 12th. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is 23.70%.

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.