The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) Price Target Raised to $200.00

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) had its price objective increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $198.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on THG. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities set a $205.00 target price on The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:THG opened at $176.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.44. The Hanover Insurance Group has a one year low of $145.17 and a one year high of $186.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $5.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.30. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 22.43% and a net margin of 9.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.05 earnings per share. The Hanover Insurance Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 20.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of THG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.6% in the first 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 during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 36.1% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,280,418 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $217,505,000 after acquiring an additional 339,896 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 907,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $157,905,000 after acquiring an additional 282,233 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 52.9% in the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 558,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $94,787,000 after acquiring an additional 193,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 21.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 553,815 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,190,000 after acquiring an additional 96,006 shares during the period. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.