Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Buys 43,943 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 112.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,043 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 43,943 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.23% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $10,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 129.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 216 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 235 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 35.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 520 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.7% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 542 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the first quarter worth $73,000. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $65,570.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,612 shares in the company, valued at $473,677.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:THG traded up $3.08 on Monday, reaching $133.15. The company had a trading volume of 204,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,171. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.82 and a twelve month high of $138.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $131.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.65 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.62. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 2.44% and a net margin of 0.59%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 361.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $124.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised The Hanover Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. TheStreet raised The Hanover Insurance Group from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.00.

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.