Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $696,000 Holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 114.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,498 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,405 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,163 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 10,776 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,658,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC now owns 9,703 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,025 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on THG shares. Barclays upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.50.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:THG opened at $166.59 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.66 and a 1 year high of $176.16.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 29.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John C. Roche sold 301 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $52,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,772,450. The trade was a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan J. Salvatore sold 10,526 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.60, for a total transaction of $1,753,631.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,942.40. This trade represents a 28.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,027 shares of company stock valued at $1,841,309. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.