Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 9,737 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG - Free Report) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,119 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 9,737 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.19% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $8,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 321.8% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 51,519 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,718,000 after buying an additional 39,306 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.8% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,290,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 547.8% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 13,500 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,498,000 after acquiring an additional 11,416 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 19.6% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 189,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $20,975,000 after acquiring an additional 31,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group during the third quarter worth approximately $455,000. 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 weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised The Hanover Insurance Group from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on The Hanover Insurance Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $147.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Down 0.7 %

The Hanover Insurance Group stock traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.62. 196,012 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 163,013. The business has a fifty day moving average of $131.38 and a 200 day moving average of $125.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.10 and a beta of 0.67. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.82 and a 12-month high of $138.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Research analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued 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 2.56%. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 361.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $65,570.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $473,677.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

About The Hanover Insurance Group

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.