The Hanover Insurance Group (THG) Competitors

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) and The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, community ranking, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Do analysts recommend MKL or THG?

Markel Group currently has a consensus target price of $1,727.75, indicating a potential downside of 11.17%. The Hanover Insurance Group has a consensus target price of $179.50, indicating a potential upside of 4.60%. Given The Hanover Insurance Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe The Hanover Insurance Group is more favorable than Markel Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Markel Group	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
The Hanover Insurance Group	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.44

Is MKL or THG more profitable?

Markel Group has a net margin of 16.34% compared to The Hanover Insurance Group's net margin of 6.83%. The Hanover Insurance Group's return on equity of 18.01% beat Markel Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Markel Group	16.34%	7.55%	1.99%
The Hanover Insurance Group	6.83%	18.01%	3.23%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in MKL or THG?

77.1% of Markel Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of The Hanover Insurance Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Markel Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of The Hanover Insurance Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MKL or THG?

The Hanover Insurance Group received 70 more outperform votes than Markel Group when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.33% of users gave Markel Group an outperform vote while only 59.32% of users gave The Hanover Insurance Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Markel Group	Outperform Votes 299 59.33%	Underperform Votes 205 40.67%
The Hanover Insurance Group	Outperform Votes 369 59.32%	Underperform Votes 253 40.68%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, MKL or THG?

Markel Group has higher revenue and earnings than The Hanover Insurance Group. The Hanover Insurance Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Markel Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Markel Group	$15.56B	1.59	$2.64B	$135.69	14.33
The Hanover Insurance Group	$6.27B	0.98	$426M	$12.01	14.29

Does the media prefer MKL or THG?

In the previous week, Markel Group had 17 more articles in the media than The Hanover Insurance Group. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Markel Group and 6 mentions for The Hanover Insurance Group. The Hanover Insurance Group's average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat Markel Group's score of 0.74 indicating that The Hanover Insurance Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Markel Group	12 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
The Hanover Insurance Group	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, MKL or THG?

Markel Group has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Hanover Insurance Group has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

The Hanover Insurance Group beats Markel Group on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.