Woodline Partners LP Grows Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 1,575.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 129,848 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 122,098 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.36% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $20,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of THG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,928,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $188,363,000 after buying an additional 270,491 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,858 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $148,297,000 after buying an additional 130,054 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 75.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,356 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $44,443,000 after buying an additional 123,793 shares during the period. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on THG shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.50.

Insider Activity at The Hanover Insurance Group

In related news, CEO John C. Roche sold 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $52,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,772,450. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.60, for a total transaction of $1,753,631.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,864 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,942.40. This represents a 28.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,027 shares of company stock valued at $1,841,309 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Down 1.4%

THG opened at $166.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $165.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.66 and a 12-month high of $176.16.

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

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.98%.

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.

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