Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $201,000 Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,046,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 502.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 62,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,633,000 after buying an additional 3,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 226.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on THG shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of THG opened at $156.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $157.69 and a 200-day moving average of $147.18. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $119.66 and a one year high of $166.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.43 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,782,214.76. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 12,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,951,223 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.