New York State Teachers Retirement System Raises Position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.14% of The Hanover Insurance Group worth $7,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 226.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

THG opened at $159.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $155.88 and a 200 day moving average of $151.63. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.66 and a fifty-two week high of $166.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 18.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This is a boost from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on THG. Barclays raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.25.

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.