The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to "Outperform" Rating

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has $188.00 price target on the insurance provider's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $181.38.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:THG traded up $2.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $165.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 351,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,033. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.64. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 1 year low of $123.17 and a 1 year high of $178.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.98% and a return on equity of 18.23%. The company's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.08 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bryan J. Salvatore sold 10,526 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,308,942.40. This represents a 28.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,635,173 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $632,338,000 after purchasing an additional 21,221 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,489,391 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $230,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,217,919 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $188,363,000 after purchasing an additional 270,491 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,087,786 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $168,237,000 after purchasing an additional 43,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,858 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $148,297,000 after purchasing an additional 130,054 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company's stock.

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.